Boko Haram 'razes village near Chibok, kills 2 soldiers'

Kano - Boko Haram jihadists killed two soldiers
and razed a village adjoining the northeast
Nigerian town of Chibok where the group
kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls two years
ago, residents said Sunday.
The Nigerian army meanwhile said it had retaken
some villages from the Islamist group in the Lake
Chad region in operations on Friday and Saturday
and "rescued" 85 people, including women and
children. It also claimed nearly 40 Islamists were
killed in other operations.
A group of Boko Haram gunmen arrived in
Akwada, 10km from Chibok, late Saturday and
torched homes after looting food supplies.
The attack came just hours after the army said
it had rescued one of the missing Chibok
schoolgirls with her 10-month-old baby near the
Cameroon border.
"Boko Haram gunmen attacked the village around
19:30. They fired indiscriminately and hurled
explosives," resident Bitrus John told AFP.
"They killed two soldiers and injured another one
in gunfight," he said.
Troops patrolling the area engaged the Islamists
in a shootout, allowing residents to flee the
village unhurt, said John.
Sporadic attacks
Soldiers had deployed in the village following
incessant attacks in the area in recent months.
"The village has been entirely burnt, there is
nothing left apart from burnt rubble of our mud
houses," said Bulus Samson.
The attack underscores the continued threat of
Boko Haram in Nigeria's volatile northeast, where
the military is battling for control despite
making gains against the insurgents over the
past year.
It came two weeks after similar raids on two
nearby villages where the Islamists looted and
burnt homes.
The Nigerian army said on Sunday it had rescued
85 people held by Boko Haram in villages around
Lake Chad.
Army spokesman Sani Usman said in a statement
that five insurgents and a soldier were killed and
that weapons had also been recovered.
Usman said 37 Boko Haram fighters were killed in
another operation in four villages in the south of
Borno state, the epicentre of the Islamist
uprising.
He said a local vigilante died and five soldiers
were wounded during the operation.
Boko Haram's seven-year insurgency in Nigeria's
predominantly-Muslim north has claimed at least
20 000 lives and made more than 2.6 million
homeless.
Nigerian troops with the help of neighbouring
countries have recaptured swathes of territory
from Boko Haram since early 2015, but the
extremists have carried out sporadic attacks on
remote villages in the restive region.