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ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria's military says it has arrested the leader of breakaway Boko Haram faction Ansaru, calling the capture of the Islamic extremist a breakthrough in the fight against extremism.

Ansaru leader Khalid al-Barnawi has a $5 million reward on him since the U.S. Department of State named him a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" in 2012.

Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar says al-Barnawi, originally named Usman Umar Abubakar, was arrested by security agents on Friday in the southern city of Lokoja.

Ansaru is known for kidnapping foreigners for ransom and is allied with Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. The group is believed to have broken away from Boko Haram in disagreements over Boko Haram's indiscriminate slaughter of Muslims. Both groups want to create an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria.

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