Nigeria military says it kills 300 Boko Haram militants in counteroffensive

MAROUA, Cameroon/MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Nigerian forces have killed more than 300 Boko Haram fighters during an operation to recapture 11 towns and villages since the start of the week, the military said on Wednesday, as regional neighbours also pounded the militants.

"Weapons and equipment were also captured and some destroyed," defence spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade said in a statement. "However, two soldiers lost their lives while 10 others were wounded," he added.

It was not possible to independently verify the military's statement. Nigerian forces have in past been accused of overstating enemy casualties while greatly understating their own and those of civilians caught in the crossfire.

Cameroonian forces supported by Chad's air force carried out air strikes and used heavy artillery against Boko Haram in the village of Gourgouroon, on the Nigeria-Cameroon border, Cameroon army spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck said.

Boko Haram's relentless attacks on military and civilians have killed thousands since the group launched its violent campaign for a breakaway Islamic state in mid-2009, threatening the stability of Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer as well as that of the entire region.

Boko Haram was cited as a reason for postponing by six weeks a Nigerian presidential election that had been due to take place this past Saturday. In a video on Tuesday, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau appeared in a video monitored by the US-based SITE Intelligence Group in which he threatened to disrupt the upcoming vote.

But in the past two weeks the tide has appeared to turn against them, as neighbours Chad, Cameroon and Niger, all of whom are plagued by Boko Haram insurgents, have weighed in.

Victories 

Nigerian soldiers recaptured the strategic town of Monguno, on the shores of Lake Chad where the four countries meet, from Boko Haram on Monday. More than 5,000 people fled the town after the insurgents seized it last month.

Olukolade said troops had seized five types of armoured fighting vehicles, an anti-aircraft gun, 50 cases of bombs, eight different types of machine guns, some 50 cases of ammunition and 300 motorcycles the rebels use to launch attacks.

Chadian troops cleared Boko Haram out of Nigeria's Gamburu earlier this month. Niger soldiers shot dead a suicide bomber suspected of belonging to Islamist militant group Boko Haram on Monday after he tried to detonate an explosive belt near a military post in the southern Niger town of Bagara.

Violence in the northeast has hurt the re-election prospects of President Goodluck Jonathan, accused of doing too little to protect civilians from the militants, although recent victories could swing public opinion in his favour.

The growing cooperation between Nigeria's neighbours is also attracting donor support to fight the Islamists, with the US army providing equipment and intelligence to allies.

Presidents from the 10-nation Economic Community of Central African States pledged on Monday to create an emergency fund of 50 billion CFA francs ($87 million) to the fight.