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Nigeria: Boko Haram Fighters, Families Arrested

by Associated Press

   MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA --

   Military authorities say Nigerian soldiers have arrested more than 400
   people associated with the Boko Haram extremist group hiding on the
   islands of Lake Chad, including fighters, wives and children.

   Col. Onyema Nwachukwu says the two-week operation netted the largest
   number of arrests of Boko Haram fighters in recent months in northeast
   Nigeria. It included air and ground offensives targeting insurgents'
   locations.

   Nwachukwu says the military arrested 167 Boko Haram fighters, 67 women
   and 173 children who were family members of the insurgents. The women
   and children will be handed over to authorities of displacement camps
   after investigations.

   Nwachukwu says another 57 insurgents were arrested during a separate
   operation in another part of the troubled region.

   Boko Haram has been blamed for more than 20,000 deaths during its
   eight-year insurgency.