The Nigerian army said it had killed a Boko Haram commander and 10 other members of the Islamist group in a nighttime operation in the northeast of the country, the Associated Press reported.
Abu Khalid, the commander of a Boko Haram cell operating in the Sambisa forest in Borno state, was a key figure in the "terrorist structure coordinating operations and logistics in the Sambisa axis," said Nigerian army spokesman Sani Uba. Army units attacked the Boko Haram fighters last night in the Kodunga area of Borno state, Uba said, adding that weapons, food and medical supplies were seized from the Islamists.
The news of the military operation was announced after militants from the Islamist group killed dozens of people in attacks on a construction site and a military base in northeastern Nigeria earlier this week.
In 2009, the jihadist movement "Boko Haram", which originated in Nigeria, began an armed struggle against Western influence in the country in an attempt to impose its radical version of Islamic law. A branch of the "Islamic State", known as "Islamic State in West Africa," has also joined the armed actions. The jihadists have also launched raids into neighboring countries, including Niger, with the UN saying the civilian death toll has now reached 35,000 and more than 2 million people displaced.
Taiwo Adebayo, an expert on Boko Haram at the Institute for Security Studies, said the Nigerian military began an offensive last month. The military is now taking a more proactive approach, "a departure from its typical reactive stance that saw dozens of army camps attacked last year." Adebayo added that the United States has been conducting reconnaissance flights over Borno since November to assist the Nigerian military in its operations against the militants.
Nigeria is grappling with a complex security crisis. In recent months, the country's northeast has been hit by Islamist attacks, while the northwest and central regions have seen a wave of kidnappings.
In December, the US military launched airstrikes against Islamist militants in northern Nigeria after Washington accused the West African country of failing to curb attacks on Christians.