MAIDUGURI/KANO: A multinational task force battling Boko Haram said it had recaptured the only town in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state that was still held by the militant group.
The Nigerian troops backed by a regional force recaptured Damasak where Boko Haram killed more than 200 and abducted hundreds of children two years ago, the army said Friday.
“MNJTF (Multinational Joint Task Force) troops... have successfully... occupied Damasak,” the army said in a statement, indicating it was part of an operation to clear militants out of towns and villages.
The Chad-based MNJTF comprises troops from Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Benin as part of regional efforts to end the seven-year Boko Haram violence in the Lake Chad region.
Damasak, a fishing and irrigation hub which lies close to the border with Niger, some 180 km north of Borno state capital Maiduguri, was seized by Boko Haram in November 2014.
Insurgents there killed some 200 people and kidnapped more than 400 children with the violence forcing around 14,000 to flee across the border to Diffa in Niger.
It was temporarily seized from Boko Haram control by Nigerian and Chadian troops in March last year but fell back into the militants’ hands after the soldiers withdrew a month later.
In April, Boko Haram fighters attacked Nigerian troops with suicide bombers and mortar fire at a military checkpoint in Kareto village, 38 km from Damasak.
Although the soldiers managed to repel the assault, more than 20 of them were wounded.
More than 15,000 people have been killed and some 2.4 million displaced.
Damasak, captured by Boko Haram in October 2014, was part of an area around the size of Belgium that the jihadist group controlled in northeast Nigeria by the end of 2009.
MNJTF spokesman Col. Mohammad Dole said troops cleared militants from Dutse, a village in Niger, before moving to the Nigerian border town Damasak around 10 a.m. (0900 GMT).
“In continuation with clearance operation of towns and villages, troops of Sector 4 in Diffa (Niger) have successfully cleared Dutse village, captured and occupied Damasak town,” he said.
“The forces are coordinating to stabilize the immediate environs,” he added.
The troops were supported by an air force from MNJTF member states, he said. More than 30 Nigerian soldiers have been killed in previous attempts to recapture Damasak.
Since a push early last year led by the Nigerian army, supported by troops from neighboring states, most of the territory has been seized back from the militants but the group still stages guerrilla attacks in the region.
The Nigerian troops backed by a regional force recaptured Damasak where Boko Haram killed more than 200 and abducted hundreds of children two years ago, the army said Friday.
“MNJTF (Multinational Joint Task Force) troops... have successfully... occupied Damasak,” the army said in a statement, indicating it was part of an operation to clear militants out of towns and villages.
The Chad-based MNJTF comprises troops from Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Benin as part of regional efforts to end the seven-year Boko Haram violence in the Lake Chad region.
Damasak, a fishing and irrigation hub which lies close to the border with Niger, some 180 km north of Borno state capital Maiduguri, was seized by Boko Haram in November 2014.
Insurgents there killed some 200 people and kidnapped more than 400 children with the violence forcing around 14,000 to flee across the border to Diffa in Niger.
It was temporarily seized from Boko Haram control by Nigerian and Chadian troops in March last year but fell back into the militants’ hands after the soldiers withdrew a month later.
In April, Boko Haram fighters attacked Nigerian troops with suicide bombers and mortar fire at a military checkpoint in Kareto village, 38 km from Damasak.
Although the soldiers managed to repel the assault, more than 20 of them were wounded.
More than 15,000 people have been killed and some 2.4 million displaced.
Damasak, captured by Boko Haram in October 2014, was part of an area around the size of Belgium that the jihadist group controlled in northeast Nigeria by the end of 2009.
MNJTF spokesman Col. Mohammad Dole said troops cleared militants from Dutse, a village in Niger, before moving to the Nigerian border town Damasak around 10 a.m. (0900 GMT).
“In continuation with clearance operation of towns and villages, troops of Sector 4 in Diffa (Niger) have successfully cleared Dutse village, captured and occupied Damasak town,” he said.
“The forces are coordinating to stabilize the immediate environs,” he added.
The troops were supported by an air force from MNJTF member states, he said. More than 30 Nigerian soldiers have been killed in previous attempts to recapture Damasak.
Since a push early last year led by the Nigerian army, supported by troops from neighboring states, most of the territory has been seized back from the militants but the group still stages guerrilla attacks in the region.
