Nigerian Army kills 20 insurgents

He said troops of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, supported by the air force, launched an offensive operation along Gwoza-Bita Damboa road, and aggressively pursued the fleeing insurgents in the general areas of Bita and Sambisa forest, where they were flushed out.

Founded in 2001, Boko Haram is an Islamic militant organisation operating in northeastern Nigeria, north of Cameroon and Niger.

The sect poses the biggest security threat in the country.

Hundreds of people have been killed since it launched the insurgency in 2009.