About 100 Boko Haram insurgents killed in Nigeria in six months: military

LAGOS, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- About 100 Boko Haram insurgents, including five high-profile commanders, were killed and 72 others surrendered in restive northeast Nigeria in the past six months, a top military chief said Monday.

Boko Haram insurgents were tactically defeated, as the military liberated all the territories from the insurgents, Ibrahim Attahiru, outgoing commander of a military operation tagged "Lafiya Dole," told reporters in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.

Attahiru said the military had launched various operations to get rid of the insurgents and sustained the feat recorded in the counter-insurgency campaign.

"In view of the successes recorded by the military, the Boko Haram insurgents resorted to suicide bombing of soft targets," he added.

The military chief said the military had reinforced its Mobile Strike Force to block the sect's supply routes and enhance clearance operations.

Earlier, Rogers Nicholas, the newly-posted Theater Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, called on the Boko Haram insurgents to lay down their arms and embrace peace.

He said it was imperative to encourage remnants of the Boko Haram insurgents to surrender in order to guarantee lasting peace in the region.

Nicholas disclosed that the command would come out with new strategies to intensify campaign to end suicide bombings and attacks by the insurgents.

He also called on the people in the region to cooperate with military to enable them to win the war against the terror group, adding that the war against insurgency was a collective responsibility.

Nigeria has made considerable gain on the Boko Haram front, with its security forces operating in the restive region having dislodged Boko Haram fighters from the Sambisa Forest, their last enclave in the country. Enditem