(VOVworld) - Some 2,000 people have been freed from Boko Haram strongholds by a West African regional force as Nigeria launches an operation to rehabilitate members of the militant group.
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| Displaced people queue for food at Dikwa Camp in Borno state, northeast Nigeria, February 2. Cameroon says that a regional taskforce has freed 2,000 people from Boko Haram captivity in recent days. STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images |
Bouba Dobekreo, Cameroon’s commander of the joint multinational force, said on Tuesday that around 400 Boko Haram members had been arrested during a three-day operation to clear out the group’s strongholds in the border regions of Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon.
The same day, the Nigerian army also rescued 280 hostages in a search for Boko Haram rebels in northwestern Borno state. Nigeria has established a rehabilitation center for fighters who surrenders and want to return to ordinary life. Since 2009 Boko Haram has conducted regular attacks and kidnaps in Nigeria, aiming to form an Islamic state.