Nigerian soldiers killed two top commanders of the Islamist sect Boko Haram during a four-hour gun battle in northeast Adamawa state, the military said yesterday.

Mohammad Bama and Abubakar Zakariya Yau were arrested near the town of Mubi last week and confessed they planned an operation in Taraba state to the south, Mubi army chief Beyidi Marcus Martins told reporters.

The men, who had bounties of 10 million naira (€46,911) on their heads, died in a gun battle that erupted after they took army officers to show them their hideout.

Several other sect members were also killed, Martins said.

There was no independent confirmation of the circumstances surrounding the men’s death and Boko Haram has not commented publicly on the loss of its commanders.

Human rights groups have accused Nigerian soldiers of carrying out extra-judicial killings during their fight against Boko Haram. The army has always denied the accusations.

Boko Haram, which wants to impose sharia law in Nigeria’s north, and other spin-off Islamist groups have become the biggest threat to stability in Africa’s top oil exporter.

Army has denied accusations of extra-judicial killings

In mid-May, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency and launched an offensive against the group in its stronghold in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states in the northeast.

The insurgency, which has killed thousands since it intensified more than two years ago, was initially weakened but remains active and guerrilla-style attacks persist.

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