Nigerian air force kills '300 Boko Haram' suspects

By Olarewaju Kola

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AA) - Nigerian military claims it killed 300 Boko Haram suspects, including alleged commanders of the group during airstrikes on an insurgent camp in the country’s northeast Borno State over the weekend.

In a statement released Tuesday, army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman said the air raids on Boko Haram’s alleged Sambisa camp, said to be the insurgents’ operational headquarters, was carried out “while the terrorists were performing their Friday rituals.

“We strike the terrorists en-masse; at least 300 of terrorists were killed in that operations,” Nigerian Air Chief Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar announced late Monday during his visit to the central part of northeast Borno State, an area near the scene of the air operation.

It remains unclear how the military arrived at the high death toll. There is no way to independently verify the toll because of a lack of independent media in Borno.

The army also claimed Boko Haram factional leader, Abubakar Shekau had been “fatally wounded” in the airstrikes. It also named Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman as some of the commanders killed in the operations.

Nigerian military has twice in the past claimed it killed the Boko Haram leader in previous operations, a claim which Shekau refuted in subsequent video releases.