20 Boko Haram militants killed in Nigeria
At least 20 suspected Boko Haram militants have been killed in a gun battle with the military in Nigeria's Borno state, Xinhua reported.
At least 20 suspected Boko Haram militants have been killed in a gun battle with the military in Nigeria's Borno state, Xinhua reported.
The militants were killed in an overnight raid Sunday in the state capital Maiduguri.
Col. Victor Ebhaleme, state commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF), said a soldier was also killed in the raid. Two other soldiers were wounded.
The raid took place following an intelligence report that the Boko Haram sect was holding a meeting in the metropolis to probably launch further attacks in the state.
When the military personnel approached the venue of the meeting, the Boko Haram members opened fire, the JTF commander said.
The Boko Haram group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad".
But residents of Maiduguri, where it was formed in 2002, dubbed it Boko Haram. Loosely translated from the local Hausa language, this means Western education is forbidden.