Army kills 74 Boko Haram Militants in Borno

Nigeria's army said Friday it had killed 74 suspected Boko Haram fighters in a raid on insurgent camps in restive Borno state, the latest operation in the military's bid to crush a 4-year Islamist uprising.

"The operations, which involved ground and aerial assault...led to the destruction of the identified terrorists camps, killing 74 suspected militants," area army spokesman Mohammed Dole said of the Thursday raid in Borno in the northeast, Boko Haram's stronghold.

The strike targeted two villages in the Mainok local government area, not far from Borno's capital of Maiduguri, where Boko Haram was founded more than a decade ago.

It followed a Monday assault on Boko Haram camps in another part of Borno, which the military said left 37 Islamists dead.