The Boko Haram extremist group has been driven out of its last stronghold in Sambisa forest, Nigeria’s president said Saturday.
In a victory statement, President Muhammadu Buhari congratulated Nigerian troops for “finally entering and crushing the remnants of the Boko Haram insurgents at Camp Zero,” the rebel base in Sambisa forest.
According to the Associated Press, “the terrorists are on the run, and no longer have a place to hide.”
The defeat of the extremist group comes as the Islamic State — another group that Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to — claimed a successful attack on army barracks in northeast Nigeria’s Yobe state.
Camp Zero was where Boko Haram was allegedly holding nearly 300 young girls kidnapped from the town of Chibok in 2014. Though some girls had escaped, 197 remain missing.
“Further efforts should be intensified to locate and free our remaining Chibok girls still in captivity. May God be with them,” Buhari said.
Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people during the seven-year uprising.
