Air raid kills extremists

MAIDUGURI, (AP):

Nigeria's military says it killed scores of Islamic extremists in an air raid on a funeral in northeast Nigeria.

Spokesman Colonel Muhammed Dole said yesterday that the Boko Haram terrorist network has been forcefully conscripting youths and abducting women, but that security forces are in pursuit.

Dole claimed a recent offensive has "resulted in serious decimation of Boko Haram fighters".

This is the first reported air raids since insurgents last week set ablaze two military bases on the outskirts of Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, and destroyed three fighter jets and two helicopters.

Reporters watched a jetfighter taking off from Maiduguri last Friday, when Dole said the raids killed scores of fighters attending the burial of fellow insurgents.

Thousands of civilians have been killed in the Islamic uprising in northeast Nigeria.