Molly Kilete, Abuja

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said soldiers on counter insurgency operations in the North East have killed 78 members of the Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province terrorists in its continuous determination to wipe out insurgency in the country.

Coordinator, Defence Media Organization, Major General John Enenche, who made this known, said the soldiers destroyed seven gun trucks and arrested 16 high profile suspected Boko Haram informants while on a clearing operations coordinated by the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai.

Enenche, who gave the breakdown of some of the successes recorded by troops in the last two weeks, said: “The ongoing subsidiary operation in the North East Theatre of Operation codenamed ‘Operation KANTANA JIMLAN’ being conducted as part of the conclusive phase of Operation LAFIYA DOLE is already recording monumental successes. The operation which is being conducted preparatory to the final routing of BHT/ISWAP criminals from the Nigerian territory by the troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE and coordinated by the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai has intensified on various fronts, especially within the Timbuktu triangle, leaving the criminal elements and their leadership in complete disarray and thus setting the conditions for the commencement of the final assault on their evil enclaves and hideouts.

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“Several BHT/ISWAP targets were acquired and engaged with precision by Nigerian Army Artillery Regiments of Operation LAFIYA DOLE across the entire Theatre thus delivering accurate fire on the criminals who were seen fleeing in disarray. In one of such coordinated artillery bombardments conducted between May 1 and 2, 2020 around the Timbuktu triangle general area by the offensive support group of Operation KANTANA JIMLAN, seven Boko Haram gun trucks were destroyed while 78 BHT/ISWAP fighters were killed as confirmed by both aerial and human intelligence.

“Relatedly, within the same period, another successful artillery engagement to Buk in Damboa LGA of Borno State resulted in the neutralization of an additional 56 BHT criminals. Acting on intelligence that a large number of BHT members were converging at the location, which they erroneously considered as being safe from aerial bombardment, the gallant troops of the Nigerian Army Artillery Regiments acquired and engaged the location with deadly precision, inflicting heavy casualties on them. As confirmed by our intelligence sources, only a handful of the terrorists escaped the location with gun shot wounds, with little chances of survival.

“In a related development, 16 high profile Boko Haram informants have fallen into the troops’ dragnet within the last two weeks. The arrest of such high profile BHT informants has significantly dislocated the criminals’ information and supply chains and equally dislocating their communication.  As the gallant troops continue to overwhelm the criminal elements on all fronts, it is quite apparent that the days of the criminal elements called Boko Haram are indeed numbered.

“Meanwhile, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, who has been in the Theatre with the troops for the past five weeks congratulated the gallant troops for their resilience, courage and dedication to the noble cause of defending our fatherland against the criminal elements. He further urged them to remain focused and ruthless as they take the fight to the fleeing remnants of the enemies of our nation. The general public is hereby encouraged to provide credible information to our troops as the Nigerian military remain resolute in tackling the security challenges of the country.”