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| Soldiers walk through Hausari village during a military patrol near Maiduguri |
On Monday the Nigerian
military said that a two month old offensive in the northeast had
“substantially achieved” the aim of destroying Islamist bases, as well as
killing or capturing a number of fighters and freeing victims of abductions.
In a statement, defence spokesman Brigadier-General
Chris Olukolade also said 23 women and 35 children being held on charges of
aiding Islamist militant group Boko Haram had been released as a gesture of
peace to its more moderate sympathizers.
Nigerian forces are carrying out their most
concerted effort yet to end a four-year insurgency that has left thousands dead
– many of them killed in gun or bomb attacks – and destabilized swathes of the
north of Africa’s top oil producer.
“The mandate to the forces involves the destruction
of all terrorist camps and apprehension of perpetrators,” Mr Olukolade said.
“This mandate has been substantially achieved with destruction of terrorists’
strongholds. A number of terrorists have been apprehended … Many of them have
died in battle.”
Boko Haram, which is fighting for an Islamic state
in religiously-mixed Nigeria, have in the past proved masters of resurrecting
themselves after apparent defeat.
Nigerian authorities thought they were finished
after a 2009 crackdown left 800 dead, including the sect’s founder Mohammed
Yusuf, but they came back stronger than ever, developing ties with al-Qaeda
linked militants in the Sahara.
President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of
emergency on May 14, ordering extra troops into the northeast after reports
Boko Haram had taken over large stretches of the remote semi-desert region.
Since then, security sources say the number of
attacks has dropped sharply, although a spate of deadly attacks on schools
showed the sect can still inflict mayhem.
Mr Olukolade said the destruction of bases in
Nigeria had pushed the militants back inside northeast Nigeria’s cities, like
Maiduguri, where many had been seized in cordon and search operations.
On Sunday, Nigerian forces said they had uncovered
a vast network of underground tunnels connecting houses and bunkers in the
Maiduguri area of Bulabulin, as well as some collective graves of people killed
by the militants. Mr Olukolade said some of the bunkers could accommodate over
100 people.
Critics say no amount of military force will solve
the underlying issues driving the insurgency, such as the North’s poverty and
sense of political exclusion, but efforts to dialogue with the sect have failed
to get a positive response.
The authorities had also arrested the
parents-in-law of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.
On Saturday Mr Shekau uploaded a defiant Internet
video vowing never to “dialogue with a government that is corrupt and using the
book of pagans (Bible) to run itself,” a swipe at the fact that Mr Jonathan’s
administration is dominated by southern Christians like himself.
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