Kano, Nigeria -
Nigerian troops have killed more than 40 members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram in north-eastern Borno state, according to an army spokesman quoted in the National Mirror and other media on Saturday.
Major General Chris Olukolade said fighting started as insurgents tried to free other Boko Haram members who had been captured by the army on Thursday.
Four government soldiers were killed and nine injured.
The army recovered more than 16 rifles as well as ammunition and bomb-making materials.
The incident occurred in Bulanbuli, in central Borno state near the Sambisa forest, where Boko Haram has established an enclave and where it is believed to be holding more than 100 schoolgirls it abducted earlier this month.
Borno is one of three northern states that the government placed under a state of emergency last May to curb attacks by Boko Haram, which wants to establish an Islamist state.
The group is responsible for thousands of deaths since it began its insurgency in 2009. - Sapa-dpa