国际英语新闻:Nigerian troops kill over 100 Boko Haram fighters in operation

ABUJA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian troops killed more than 100 Boko Haram fighters in a latest operation to rout remnants of the terror group in Nigeria's northeast region, the army said in a statement on Monday.

The Boko Haram fighters were killed following the operation by troops in the two northeastern states of Borno and Yobe, said the army.

There was no specific number of terrorists killed and time of the operation in the official statement made available to Xinhua in Abuja.

The operation against Boko Haram, which has been trying since 2009 to establish an Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria, took place in the troubled region's Goniri, Damasak, Kross Kauwa, and Monguno, among other locations.

A high caliber of arms and ammunition were also recovered from the terrorists, according to the army.

Meanwhile, army spokesman Sani Kukasheka Usman disclosed that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) had destroyed several gun trucks and facilities belonging to the Boko Haram group while giving close air support to ground troops and also facilitating the pursuit of fleeing terrorists.

"The battle has now further shifted to the fringes of Lake Chad and other suspected Boko Haram terrorists' enclave along the borders," Usman told reporters.

Boko Haram has so far killed about 20,000 people and forcing the displacement of millions of others in the most populous African country.