Nigerian Army - We have 3 more LGAs left to win Boko Haram

The Nigerian army said on Tuesday it had repelled Boko Haram from all but three local government districts in the northeast, claiming victory for its offensive against the Islamist insurgents less than two weeks before a presidential election.

At the start of this year, Boko Haram controlled around 20 local government areas, a territory the size of Belgium, in its bloody six-year-old campaign to carve out an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria.

But a concerted push by Nigeria's military and neighbours Chad, Cameroon and Niger has regained considerable ground. At the weekend, Nigerian government forces recaptured the city of Bama, the second biggest in north-easterly Borno state.

"We have three local governments remaining, Abadam, Kala-Balge and Gwoza, and we are optimistic that with time we will liberate those," Lieutenant-General Tobiah Minimah, the army chief of staff, told reporters.

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Nigeria-says-has-pushed-Boko-Haram-out-of-all-but-3-areas-20150318-4