Lagos (AFP) - Nigeria's military
said more than 200 members of Boko Haram surrendered Friday as troops
regained control of the northeastern town of Banki, from where attacks
had been launched into Cameroon.
"Over
200 members of the terrorist organization Boko Haram have surrendered
today (Friday) to the Nigerian troops in Banki town," army spokesman
Sani Usman said in a statement.
There
was no independent verification of the military's statement, the latest
in a series of successes claimed by the army against the Islamist,
including the destruction of Boko Haram camps.
Usman said Banki, in Borno state, was re-captured on Thursday.
The
military had earlier claimed the arrest of 43 Boko Haram suspects and
the release of 241 women and children thought to have been held by the
group there.
Boko Haram has
previously used Banki to launch cross-border attacks, including in and
around the Cameroon town of Amchide, where the Islamists clashed with
security forces and there were failed suicide attacks Tuesday.
Nigeria's
President Muhammadu Buhari has given his military commanders until
early November to end the insurgency, which has claimed at least 17,000
lives and left more than two million homeless since 2009.