Army hits Boko Haram insurgents hard

– Nigeria’s army has killed 20 suspected members of Boko Haram in a renewed offensive against the Islamist insurgency, a military spokesman said on Saturday.

“In the late hours of Friday November 15, troops launched an offensive operation along the Gwoza-Bita Damboa road, where Boko Haram insurgents were flushed out,” said Mohammad Dole, an army spokesman.

The town of Bita is a Boko Haram stronghold from where insurgents launch attacks on nearby isolated villages and on passing motorists, said Dole.

Twenty Boko Haram members were killed, and scores of vehicles and motorcycles destroyed, he said.

One soldier was killed and another three wounded in the operation, he added.

No independent confirmation of the army’s claim was available.

The military action came after the kidnapping on Wednesday of a French priest in Cameroon. –