DAMATURU, Nigeria, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- The Nigerian Army announced it killed the field commander of the Boko Haram rebel group during a gunbattle that lasted for hours.
A statement from the army's spokesman, Lt. Eli Lazarus, said security forces engaged Boko Haram rebels in a firefight in a cemetery in Damaturu Sunday, the Nigerian newspaper Leadership reported Monday.
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"About 30 suspected Boko Haram terrorists were killed in the battle, which lasted several hours," Lazarus said. "In the battle, the notorious, one-eyed Bakaka, the field commander of Boko Haram in Damaturu and a close associate of [Boko Haram leader] Abubakar Shekau was killed."
