The Nigerian military rescued 178 people abducted by Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram, local newspaper Premium Times reported Monday. The forces raided a camp near Aulari, which rests around 40 miles south of Maiduguri, which the extremists counted as a main base for their violent operations.

Of the 178 captives freed in the Borno state – the heartland of the insurgency – 101 were children, 67 were women and the rest were men, spokesman Colonel Tukur Gusau said.

“They called our attention that there were trucks fully loaded with Nigerians who after investigation are refuges, internally displaced by Boko Haram and repatriated by Cameroon gendarmes”, Mr. Bello said.

Following the heavy defeat in the hands of the Nigerian army, the extremist group distributed a new video on Sunday via Twitter showing attacks on Nigerian army barracks in Borno and Yobe states. Thirteen people were killed in an assault on Malari village about 20 kilometers from Maiduguri.

More than 13,000 people have been killed in six years of fighting in the country.

Boko Haram has staged a string of strikes – often by female bombers – targeting markets in Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon that have killed and wounded scores in the past month. In current months, the group has more and more expanded its operations into neighbouring nations.

Gusau added that three Boko Haram flags were recovered while five motor cycles were burnt.

The drive was supposed to start out operations on July 31 however has been dogged by a scarcity of funding and political will.

President Muhammadu Buhari says new task force is likely to defeat terrorists by December.

“Boko Haram decided not to use guns so as not to attract the attention of soldiers from Baga”, Gamandi said.

Residents in nearby villages said the militants had set fire to houses, sending columns of black smoke into the sky. “There is nobody in Gamboru”, he told AFP.