The Nigerian army conducted two successful raids this week of multiple villages held by Boko Haram Islamist fighters in the northeastern part of the state, officials said Thursday. More than 800 hostages were rescued while three militants were killed and one was captured alive, officials said.
Boko Haram has been wreaking havoc on northeast Nigeria since 2009 when the terrorist group launched an insurgency, trying to create an Islamic state for itself in the area. Since then, at least 17,000 people have been killed, thousands of women and children have been kidnapped, and more than 2.6 million people have fled their homes, according to human rights groups. The crisis has been called "unprecedented."
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