The Nigerian army has driven out Boko Haram fighters from Chibok, the home of over 200 schoolgirls who were abducted by militants of the Islamist group in April, an army spokesman said.

The Islamist insurgents, who have stepped up their attacks in recent weeks in Nigeria’s northeast, attacked the town on Thursday, killing several people and torching homes, villagers said.

“Terrorists who attacked Chibok town early yesterday have been effectively flushed out. Subsequent mopping up is still ongoing,” General Chris Olukolade and the Nigerian defence headquarters said on their respective Twitter feeds.

Leading elder Pogu Bitrus said the town was re-taken in a joint operation with local vigilantes known as the Civilian Joint Task Force, who back up the military in several parts of the northeast where Boko Haram is active.

Several villages said the army had fled the assault, however, leaving the vigilantes to fight on their own.

Control of Chibok is crucial to the reputation of the army and the government, which have come under harsh criticism for their failure to rescue the schoolgirls.

The Islamists stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok on the evening of April 14 and forced 276 students onto trucks in a mass abduction that caused global outrage.

Fifty-seven of the girls managed to escape.

The insurrection by Boko Haram, which wants to create an Islamic state in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria, has claimed more than 10,000 lives in the past five years.

They have seized more than 20 towns and villages in the northeast in recent months.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)