Troops in Borno State have captured a top Boko Haram commander and killed five insurgents in the on-going operation in Sambisa Forest and the Lake Chad basin.
Col. Onyeama Nwachukwu, Deputy Director, Army Public Relations of Operation Lafiya Dole, in a statement in Maiduguri, said troops also rescued three civilians, recovered vehicles and high calibre ammunition in various operations in the past two days.
Nwachukwu said on Thursday, that the troops engaged and neutralised a number of fleeing insurgents while attempting to escape the military blocking position in one of the cleared enclaves ‘Sabil-Huda’, deep in Sambisa Forest.
“Buoyed with the success and information obtained, the troops on Friday, embarked on offensive operations on suspected Boko Haram terrorists hideout ahead of Camp-Zero within Sambisa forest. Unfortunately however, they encountered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that affected one of their armoured fighting vehicles.
“Undeterred, they continued with the offensive action in which they cleared suspected Boko Haram terrorists hideout around Parisu,” he said, adding, “during the clearance, they also neutralized five Boko Haram terrorists and wounded several others. The troops recovered a 122 millimetre gun mounted on a truck that also has an anti-aircraft gun on it, one rocket propelled grenade, one grenade revolver, seven mortar bombs and other assorted weapons.
Col. Uwachukwu also said, “on Thursday, suspected Boko Haram terrorists attempting to escape through one of the blocking positions of the troops, paid dearly as quite a number of them were neutralized”.
According to him, in an ambush that lasted for less than 20 minutes near Sabil-Huda, the troops recovered a G3 rifle magazine, one life jacket, a light machine gun metal link, four rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition, four rounds of 7.62mm (NATO) ammunition and 3 rounds of 7.62mm (Special) ammunition.
