Nigeria Army Says Back in Control of Chibok
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The Nigerian army said it has recaptured and secured the northeastern town of Chibok, where Boko Haram rebels kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in April.
Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris, reporting from Abuja, said a local official and local vigilantes who participated in the operation confirmed to him the town was re-taken.
"They said that at the moment Boko Haram fighters are out of the town, but they don't think it is very safe to have people back there immediately, because they don't know what exactly is going to happen there next," Idris said.
Boko Haram had captured the town on Thursday after a battle lasting several hours. Several inhabitants said the army had fled the assault on Thursday, leaving the vigilantes to fight on their own.
Control of Chibok is crucial to the reputation of the army and the government, both of which have come under harsh criticism for their failure to rescue the schoolgirls.
The rebels stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok on the evening of April 14 and forced 276 students onto trucks in a mass abduction that caused global outrage. Fifty-seven managed to escape.
The rebellion by Boko Haram has claimed more than 10,000 lives in the past five years.
They have seized more than 20 towns and villages in the northeast in recent months.