Nigerian troops amply supported by their counterparts from neighbouring African countries have mounted successful operations in the bid to flush out Boko Haram in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
Significantly, troops of 7 Division of Nigerian Army, in a coordinated ground and aerial bombardments on Thursday pushed into the now fabled Sambisa forest and cleared many terrorists from their enclaves, including parts of Gwoza town that was captured by Boko Haram on August 6, 2014.
The Director of Defence Information, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, said “more terrorists died as the air campaign gets results in both Sambisa Forest and parts of Gwoza that was captured last August by terrorists.”
According to a report by Reuters, Boko Haram members also suffered heavy casualties when Chadian troops pushed into Nigeria this week.
It was learnt that the military targeted training camps and logistics dumps located in various parts of the Sambisa forest and destroyed in the early hours of Thursday.
According to Olukolade, “A concerted air campaign by the Nigerian Air Force is ongoing in furtherance of the mission to clear terrorists from all their enclaves.
“The air strikes which today targeted the training camps and logistics dumps of the terrorists in Sambisa Forests and parts of Gwoza have been highly successful as it achieved the aims with required precision. The death of a large number of terrorists has been recorded while many others are also scampering all over the forest and out of the struck bases. Details of casualty will be determined in subsequent phases of the operation.
“Meanwhile, the strikes continue in other locations of the theatre heralding the advancement of troops and other elements of the mission.”
Chad’s army said on Tuesday evening that they had seized control of the town of Dikwa, which is about 50 kilometres (31 miles) southwest of the Nigerian border town of Gamboru.
The offensive deep inside Nigerian territory was a first and suggested a strategy to tackle other rebel-controlled areas in the northeastern Borno State, which is the group’s stronghold.
The Chadians are part of a four-country coalition mounting a regional fight-back against the insurgents.
“Chadian soldiers took over Dikwa from Boko Haram after heavy fighting on Tuesday,” Bababura Diwa, who lives in the town, said by telephone from Fotokol, across the border in northern Cameroon.
Diwa said that the Chadians came from Gamboru, which they previously recaptured, with heavy artillery power and overpowered a group of militants at Lomani village, 15 kilometres from Dikwa.
“When they came into Dikwa, there was intense fighting but at last they subdued the Boko Haram fighters,” he added.
“They killed many of them, including Abu Ashshe, their commander who was notorious for seizing cattle in the area. I used the opportunity provided by the presence of the Chadian troops to leave the town. I was afraid to leave when Boko Haram took over the town for fear of being branded a traitor and killed.”
Diwa’s account was backed up by several other residents, who took advantage of the Chadian advance to flee the ancient town, which is near Boko Haram’s makeshift camps in the Sambisa Forest.
Jidda Saleh, another resident, said that Chadian troops launched heavy aerial and ground attacks on the Kala-Balge area, particularly on Nduwu village, which he said was a “major Boko Haram stronghold”.
“The whole village was bombarded and it is obvious Boko Haram suffered heavy casualties from the aerial attack. Ground troops moved in later,” he added.
“Meleri, which has a huge Boko Haram concentration, was also bombed by Chadian military jets and then taken over by ground troops.
“By the time we left, we learnt the Chadian soldiers were on their way to Kushimori village where Boko Haram keep the livestock they seized from people.
“They have kept thousands of livestock there. They sank boreholes and recruited people to rear the animals for them”.
Algoni Wal-Amire, another Kala-Balge resident, welcomed the offensive.
“Living under Boko Haram was like living in a minefield. You are always afraid your next step could be your last. I thank God I’m now safe from them,” he said.
OLukolade said with the recapture of the communities, the military is now doing mop up “operation of some of the communities, where terrorists have been cleared in the course of ongoing air and land operations against terrorists.”
The flushing out of Boko Haram in communities insurgents earlier took over had resulted in “massive casualty inflicted on them within the last two days of the counter terrorists operations,” the Defence spokesman said.
“Over 300 terrorists were killed, while a few were also captured. Several weapons and equipment were also recovered and some destroyed.”
Listing what was recovered from Boko Haram, in the operations, General Olukolade stated that they include “five different types of armoured fighting vehicles, an anti-aircraft gun, about 50 cases of packed bombs and eight different types of machine guns, five rocket propelled grenades, 49 boxes of various types and calibres of ammunition as well as 300 motorcycles destroyed in the fighting.”
He also revealed that six Hilux vehicles, “including those mounted with anti-aircraft guns were also destroyed.”
He disclosed that two soldiers lost their lives, while 10 others were wounded in the operation.
The military mouthpiece said the military was now engaging in the search of the recaptured communities, “with aggressive patrols by troops who are now dominating the cleared communities, such as Monguno, Gabchari, Abba Jabari, Zuntur, Gajigana, Gajiram, Damakar, Kumaliwa, Bosso Wanti, Jeram and Kabrisungul.”
He revealed that various phases of the “highly coordinated air and land operations are also ongoing in the designated theaters being handled by contingents involved in the renewed counter-terrorism campaign in and outside Nigeria.”
The military had asked for some weeks to flush out Boko Haram from the country, having got the cooperation of Niger Republic, Chad and Cameroun that donated troops and also involved in the military operations.
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The Rainbow, with reports
