178 Boko Haram hostages freed

The Nigerian army has freed 178 people held hostage by Boko Haram, including more than 100 children, it said late Sunday, following a series of deadly attacks by the jihadists in the country's restive ¬northeast. "During the offensive ¬operations, 178 people held captive by the terrorists were rescued, they include 101 ¬children, 67 women and 10 men ¬respectively," military spokesperson Colonel Tukur Gusau said in a statement. The dramatic rescue, which the army said also led to the capture of a Boko Haram commander, took place near Aulari about 70 kilometers south of Maiduguri, the biggest town in northeast Nigeria, the spokesperson said. He did not specify when the operation was conducted. The Nigerian military has announced the release of ¬hundreds of people held ¬captive by Boko Haram in ¬recent months, especially in the notorious ¬Sambisa forest, a longtime ¬Islamist stronghold where militants have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. The release of the hostages came after several attacks by Boko Haram fighters in recent days, who killed 13 people in an assault on Malari village in northeast Nigeria's restive ¬Borno state early Sunday, witnesses said. Also on Sunday, the army said it had carried out air strikes in the northeast to repel an attack by the jihadist group and had killed a "large number" of the extremists. The Nigerian Air Force said it had "successfully repelled an attack on Bita village by the Boko Haram terrorist group" in a combined operation with ground troops after spotting militants planning an assault. Local farmer Moha Saleh said 13 people were killed and 27 wounded in Sunday's ¬attack, which began when the ¬Islamists stormed the village. "They also set many houses ablaze after accusing us of telling soldiers their whereabouts," he said. Local resident Goni Musa, a vigilante who fights against Boko Haram alongside the Nigerian military, gave the same death toll. "This morning 13 bodies were recovered, some had been shot in the back, which means they were fleeing when the ¬terrorists killed them," Musa said. "They burnt down houses and shops before they left, yelling 'Allahu Akbar' (God is great). Our terrorized women and children fled into the bush and returned to Maiduguri this morning," he noted. Maiduguri is some 20 kilometers north of Malari. State police commissioner Aderemi Opadokun confirmed the attack but gave a lower toll, saying seven people had been killed.