Nigeria’s army says it has set over 5,000 people free from the grips of the Boko Haram Takfiri terrorists in the northeastern state of Borno.

“Troops of 21st Brigade and Civilian JTF [Joint Task Force] conducted a fighting patrol to Zangebe, Maiwa, Algaiti and Mainari villages in which they killed six Boko Haram terrorists and wounded several others,” Nigerian army spokesman, Sani Usman, said in a statement on Sunday.

Usman added that the troops rescued the captives and seized the arms that terrorists had left behind. The Nigerian army official added that the soldiers also dislodged Boko Haram terrorists from several other villages in the Mafa local government area of Borno.
“Unfortunately, we lost one civilian JTF, while a soldier and one mobile policeman were wounded in action,” Usman said.

Boko Haram started its campaign of militancy in 2009 with the aim of toppling the central government in Nigeria. The terrorist group has expanded its attacks into neighboring countries, notably Cameroon and Chad, in a conflict estimated to have claimed a total of 17,000 lives and forced over 2.6 million others from homes.

The terrorists have kidnapped hundreds of men, women and children in their campaign. The kidnapping of over 200 schoolgirls from Nigeria’s northeastern town of Chibok in April 2014 unleashed a wave of international outrage.

The terror group has pledged allegiance to the Daesh Takfiri terrorists, who are mainly wreaking havoc in Syria and Iraq.