“Anyone that was killed in a camp cannot call themselves a civilian. Most of the camps are populated definitely by terrorists and they’re the objects of this operation.”
“The operation is still on and the information is being collated," he said. "In many of the locations we are still mopping up and until we finish mopping up it is wrong to give you any inaccurate figure because we know the implications of such figures to the international community.”
Some soldiers say Boko Haram fled when the military moved into the area. Others say the militants were "armed to the teeth" and put up a fight.
At the base in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital and the heart of the insurgency, one officer shows us scores of weapons and vehicles. He says the military has captured them from Boko Haram and shows us anti-aircraft guns and a pickup truck with a mount for a machine gun.
Security forces say Boko Haram, which has been blamed for thousands of deaths and says it wants to impose a harsh version of Islamic law in the north, became increasingly violent in recent months, and by May was occupying towns and villages in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States.
The military says it has captured hundreds of Boko Haram members since the offensive began, killed dozens more and retaken territories.
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