Dozens
of emaciated-looking Boko Haram members begging for food have
surrendered in northeast Nigeria, the military and a civilian
self-defense fighter said Wednesday.
Seventy-six
people including children and women gave themselves up to soldiers last
Saturday in Gwoza, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of
Maiduguri, according to a senior officer.
All
are being detained at military headquarters in Maiduguri, the
birthplace of Boko Haram and currently the command center of the war
against the Islamic extremists, according to the officer. He insisted on
anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to journalists.
The
detainees said many more fighters want to surrender, a self-defense
civilian fighter who helped escort them to Maiduguri told The Associated
Press.
Food
shortages could indicate that Nigeria's military is succeeding in
choking supply routes of the Islamic extremists who have taken their
fight across Nigeria's borders. Some 20,000 people have died in the
6-year-old uprising. Boko Haram was declared the deadliest of all terror
groups in 2014, surpassing the Islamic State group to which it declared
allegiance last year.
Nigeria's
military reported that dozens of Boko Haram fighters were surrendering
in September and October last year. It promised those who give
themselves up voluntarily that they will be rehabilitated through a
de-radicalization program.
In
the 10 months since he took office promising to halt the insurgency,
President Muhammadu Buhari has replaced the leadership of the military,
moved the headquarters for the fight from the distant capital, Abuja, to
the heart of the northeastern insurgency and resupplied soldiers.
The
military has driven the insurgents from the towns and villages where
they had set up an Islamic caliphate but Boko Haram has returned to
hit-and-run tactics and suicide bombings.
Source AP
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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