Nigerian military says it killed a Boko Haram commander on Thursday in the northeast city of Maiduguri during an operation coordinated and executed by almost all the nation's security agents.

Spokesman of the military-led Joint Task Force (JTF), Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa said in a statement on Thursday evening that a "sustained follow up operation was conducted by the combine troops of the JTF Operation Restore Order, 333 Air Defense Regiment, the Department of State Security supported by Armoured Personnel Carriers with helicopters."

He said the "major offensive" was conducted against the Boko Haram sect at Nganaram, Bulabulin and Bayan Quarters areas of Maiduguri metropolis.

"During the offensive and in a counter attack, a major commander of the Boko Haram terrorist sect, commanding the North West and North East of Maiduguri by name Ibn Saleh Ibrahim, with some of his commanders and foot soldiers," Lt Col Musa added.

Maiduguri, located in Nigeria's northeastern region, is a Boko Haram flashpoint, where the Nigerian government had declared and lifted some curfews due to wave of attacks.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its latest report that more than 1,500 people, including women and children, had been killed in various attacks by the Boko Haram sect since 2009.

Xinhua