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Nigerian army kills 59 Boko Haram fighters, repels attack

Boko Haram members who kidnapped more than 200 girls 2 months ago. File photo
Boko Haram members who kidnapped more than 200 girls 2 months ago. File photo

Nigeria's army killed at least 59 members of Islamist terror group Boko Haram, repelling an attack on a key city in the country's north-east, local newspaper Punch reported Monday.

About 200 heavily armed insurgents attacked the town of Bama, one of the largest cities of Borno State, a security source was quoted as saying.

Roughly 30 Boko Haram fighters were injured when soldiers repelled the attack.

The clashes come a week after Boko Haram declared a caliphate in the town of Gwoza, about 48 kilometers from Bama.

"There was pandemonium everywhere, as we continued to hear deafening gunshots," a Bama resident said.

The insurgents entered the town in a "convoy of military vehicles and motorcycles, dressed in military uniform and armed with sophisticated weapons and improvised explosive devices," the resident said.

Boko Haram has been in control of Gwoza for several weeks. The military said its attempts to regain control of the town were "ongoing."

Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sinful," has killed more than 3,000 people in Nigeria's north this year alone.

When it first launched attacks in 2009, Boko Haram mainly targeted Christians under the pretext of wanting to establish an Islamic state, but since mid-2013, Boko Haram has focused its attacks on government security agents as well as on civilians of both Christian and Muslim faiths in their homes, markets, hospitals and schools.

 

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