Nigeria announced Tuesday it will release a number of suspects held for "terrorist activities," including all women in custody, in what it called a peace bid as an offensive targeted Islamists. The announcement came as Nigeria pressed ahead with a nearly week-old offensive against Islamist insurgents in the country's northeast, while the Red Cross said at least 2,400 people had fled violence in the region.

Nigeria's military said Monday it had re-established control in five remote areas of the northeast where Islamist insurgents had seized territory, as it pressed on with a sweeping offensive against Boko Haram militants. The military has "secured the environs of New Marte, Hausari, Krenoa, Wulgo and Chikun Ngulalo after destroying all the terrorists' camps," a defence ministry statement said. All of the areas in northern Borno state near the Cameroon border were considered Boko Haram strongholds.

Nigeria's military on Monday said it had re-established control in five remote areas of the northeast where Islamist insurgents had seized territory, as it pressed on with a sweeping offensive against Boko Haram militants. The military has "secured the environs of New Marte, Hausari, Krenoa, Wulgo and Chikun Ngulalo after destroying all the terrorists camps...The troops are already interacting with locals and citizens assuring them of their safety and freedom from the activities of insurgents," a statement said. ola-bs/fb

A key city in northeast Nigeria was on lockdown Sunday as the military enforced a 24-hour curfew and blocked supply routes in its sweeping campaign against Islamist insurgents. The operation against Boko Haram, the group that wants an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, is aimed at retaking territory seized by the militants and ridding the country of "terrorist activities," the miltary has said.