UN refugee agency said up to 65,000 people had fled the northeastern Nigerian town of Damasak following the latest militant attack on an army base, which left more than 20 people dead.
"I can confirm that the Imo State command of the Nigerian Correctional Service was attacked by unknown gunmen in Owerri," Imo state corrections service spokesman James Madugba says, adding that the number of escaped inmates was yet to be confirmed.
Palma was taken in a coordinated attack on March 24. Commander Chongo Vidigal, leader of military operations to regain control of Palma, told state television TVM the area was "safe."
Hundreds of shaken survivors of the March 24 Daesh attack in Palma have streamed into the neighbouring town of Mueda and provincial capital Pemba, where they arrived via boat, foot and plane.
A spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres confirmed only that there was a "security incident", but gave no further details.
A gang last week took 53 people hostage, including nine children, from a state-owned bus in Niger’s Kundu village.
A civilian contractor with the US-led coalition was killed and eight others, including a US service member, were wounded after at least three rockets hit areas between the civilian Erbil International Airport in northern Iraq and a nearby base.
Maiduguri city's three million residents plunged into darkness after a Daesh-linked militant group blew up transmission lines, in the third such attack in a month.
Local officials blame the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) for carrying out the deadly assault on the village in Irumu territory.
Parents fear time may be running out for their sons as Boko Haram has a history of turning captives into militant fighters.
The announcement came after several days of uncertainty about the release of the pair, who were believed to have been held by al-Qaeda-affiliated militants.
The stalled release of prisoners has delayed talks between Afghanistan's government and the militant group but negotiations are expected to begin once the inmate impasse is overcome.
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