MAIDUGURI, (AA) – At least 49 Boko Haram militia have been killed in two days of sustained battle with Nigeria’s military in northeast Borno state, an army commander has said.

Nigerian troops engaged Boko Haram fighters at two locations in shootout during an ambush in the volatile northeast region, Theatre Commander of the Counter-Insurgency Operation in the northeast, Major General Abubakar Yasha’u said on Thursday.

“The Boko Haram insurgents ambushed our soldiers along the Pulka, Bama, Maiduguri axis where they swiftly repelled the attack, killing 15 insurgents,” the general told reporters.

Elsewhere at Alagarno, a notorious Boko Haram hideout in southwestern Borno, the army claimed to have killed 34 insurgents in another gun battle, losing two soldiers.

At least 154 civilian hostages were rescued after the two encounters in a region that already has about 2.5 million displaced persons from Boko Haram-related attacks, according to a recent report by UNICEF.

Nigeria is battling to end the six-year insurgency this December, although many civilians in the volatile northeast say they are skeptical about the deadline.