ABUJA, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- A total of 8,034 gunmen, including suspected terrorists and bandits, were killed by the Nigerian Armed Forces in the past 11 months, military authorities said Thursday.
Edward Buba, the military spokesman, told reporters in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, that at least 11,623 suspects were arrested across the country between January and early December.
Buba said over 6,376 hostages were rescued across the military's theaters of operation within the period, noting that since the beginning of the year, the troops had been confronted by different threats in five active theaters of operation across the country.
The troops have also recovered some 8,216 weapons and a total of 211,459 ammunitions from suspected gunmen during the period, he said.
According to the spokesman, the military had so far this year adopted a high level of alert and an increased state of readiness to protect the country from further terrorist aggression and insecurity. ■