Nigeria’s interior minister, Abba Moro, said that despite a Sunday terror attack on a mosque there has been major progress in the army’s efforts against the terrorist group Boko Haram.

At least 44 people are dead from the attack with dozens more injured. The mosque was located in Konduga, a town 22 miles from the Borno state capital where Boko Haram was founded in 2002. Witnesses say the terrorists were wearing army uniforms.

“The security agencies of Nigeria have been able to push the Boko Haram sect from their major strongholds,” Moro told the BBC.

Nigeria declared a state of ermergency in three northern states that seemed to quell much of the terrorist’s activities. However, in the last few weeks, a spate of terror bombings and shootings has killed around 160 people.

Moro dismissed the attacks as “desperate antics.” He said the group was trying to show they were still relevant and not on the run from the army. The military cut mobile phone service to the region as a way to disrupt terrorists from communicating plans.