Nigeria Army Says It Killed 30 Islamist Militants in Borno Clash

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Nigerian troops killed at least 30 members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram after they repelled an attack on the northeastern town of Mafa, a military spokesman said.

“Mopping up operations are ongoing in the general area,” military spokesman Chris Olukolade said Monday in an e-mailed statement. Troops destroyed two armored vehicles and captured a grenade launcher and other weapons during the battle in Mafa, about 53 kilometers (33 miles) east of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, he said.

The Mafa fighting occurred on the day that militants invaded the northern town of Gubio, killing dozens of people, witnesses said. Security forces drove the rebels from the area following clashes that continued through the night, Isa Mohammed, a member of an informal militia that has helped the military battle insurgents, said by phone from Maiduguri.

Gubio, about 79 kilometers north of Maiduguri, was the scene of an attack in November that sent hundreds of residents fleeing to the state capital. Mohammed said he couldn’t give the number of casualties, “but we know dozens were killed” and some houses and government offices were burned down.

Neither military spokesman Olukolade nor army spokesman Sani Kukasheka Usman answered calls seeking comment on the Gubio attack.

Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates as “western education is a sin,” is waging a violent campaign to impose Islamic rule in Africa’s largest economy. The conflict against the group has drawn in neighbors including Cameroon, Chad and Niger in a bid to reclaim territories taken by Boko Haram to form a caliphate.