The Nigerian Army on Thursday, reported the killing of suspected Boko Haram fighters within the Kimba – Sabon Gari – Damboa axis, of Borno State.
The spokesman for Operation Lafiya Dole, Colonel Ado Isa, made the disclosure in a statement,.
Isa said the terrorists were also contending with scarcity of supplies
According to him, “The recent strategy adopted by the untiring and dogged troops of Operation Lafiya Dole in conducting robust and aggressive fighting patrols coupled with simultaneous clearance operations within the North East has been highly effective.
“Dozens of the BHTs were decimated and several others escaped with severe gunshot wounds. Normalcy has since returned to the general area while troops dominated all likely escape routes of the terrorists.
“These actions were aimed to complement the efforts of Operation Yancin Tafki by the Multi National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) currently ongoing along the borders of the lake chad region.
“Recently, it has been observed that the few elements of the Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) earlier bombarded and chased out of their enclaves were left with depleted number of fighters and supplies.
“They are presently feeling the colossal storm of the joint operations and are now looking for ways to sneak into town for food supplies, logistics and most importantly weapons”.
The development, according to the Army Spokesman, had also forced the suspected terrorists into launching surprise attacks on soft targets.
This was as he noted that the recent troops’ encounter with the fighters, was one of such desperate attempts at relevance.
“In their desperate and fruitless efforts, they resolved in springing surprise attacks on soft targets, smaller units, including civilian settlement with market advantage within the Theatre.
“It is in this regard, troops of 254 Task Force Battalion at Forward Operation Base (FOB) Kimba while on clearance operation along Sabon Gari in 25 Task Force Brigade Area of Operations – Damboa, came in contact with the terrorists on 27 April, 2019.
“During the encounter, troops were reinforced and gave the terrorists a lethal fight with only minor casualty on own troops and few damaged equipment”, he said.
In the meantime, Theatre Command has urged the public to disregard “fake” social media reports of troops suffering heavy causalty during the encounter.
“We therefore call on the general public to disregard the unsubstantiated story circulating in some media outfits and other social media platforms with fake casualty report of own troops and equipment on the encounter with BHTs along Kimba – Sabon Gari – Damboa axis on 27April 2019.
“The fake report trending is the handiwork of sympathizers of the BHTs. We also call on the general public to support the fight against insurgency and terrorism by providing credible and timely information to security agencies for swift action”, Isa stated.
