The Nigerian Military has said 41 Boko Haram fighters have been killed in a counter attack by troops of Operation Lafiya Dole in Monguno, Borno State while some bandits have been killed in the last week bringing to total 52.
John Enenche, coordinator, Defence Media Operations (DMO), who confirmed this in Abuja, however, disclosed that two soldiers were killed during the attack against terrorists in Monguno.
Enenche explained that the daring counter-attack carried out by its troops on terrorists who attempted to infiltrate Monguno town on 12 June, also resulted in the recovery of a large cache of arms, ammunition and equipment, as well as the rescue of 33 captives, amongst others.
The Coordinator explained that between 11and 18 June 2020, troops of Operation Hadarin Daji, Katsina and Accord, attacked 3 camps operated by one “Adamu Aleiro” in a forest along Katsina – Zamfara boundary area and apprehended 3 suspected bandits, while 6 kidnapped victims were rescued, amongst other recoveries.
In the Niger-Delta region, Enenche said troops confiscated a total of 5 illegal refineries, while about 2,640.5 barrels of stolen crude oil, 80,000 litres of Automotive Gas Oil and 43,000 liters of Premium Motor Spirit were seized.
He added that troops also killed 4 militants and recovered arms and ammunition during clearance operations on pirates/militants’ camps at Ibokiri and New Jerusalem in Degema LGA of Rivers State.
Enenche informed that the Military is reviewing and adjusting strategy to ensure that banditry and insurgency are brought to an end sooner than expected.
Enenche said the Military is not weak neither does it lack capacity to tackle the insecurity, but said one of its biggest constraints is getting credible information from civilians.
Meanwhile, the Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation Lafiya Dole has destroyed a compound housing some High Value Boko Haram Terrorist (BHT) leaders and killed some of their fighters at Garin Maloma on the fringes of the Sambisa Forest in Borno State.
Enenche said this was achieved through massive air strikes executed to mark the launch of Operation Long Reach, a new subsidiary operation in the theatre, which commenced on 16 June.
