Maiduguri (Nigeria): Military officials say they have uncovered mass graves of decomposing bodies, networks of underground tunnels and caches of buried arms in raids that killed dozens of Islamic extremists in Nigeria`s northeastern city of Maiduguri.
Today`s statement about last week`s raids contradicts previous military assurances that it had forced militants out of major cities and towns in a two-month-old security crackdown in three northeastern states covering one-sixth of Nigeria.
Spokesman Lt Col Sagir Musa said security forces also rescued many women and girls kidnapped by the extremists in an attack in Maiduguri`s Bulabulinganaram neighbourhood.
The extremists are alleged to be part of a group known as Boko Haram, which is believed responsible for hundreds of deaths and opposes education it deems as being "Western."
PTI
