Military Airstrikes Kill 27 Boko Haram Terrorists

Troops of the 21-Armoured Brigade, Bama, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), in collaboration with Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), on offensive, yesterday, killed seven Boko Haram terrorists in four communities of Bama local council in Borno State.

The feat came barely 24 hours after the Super Tucano fighter jets of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) killed 27 terrorists in the Sambisa Forest. The insurgents were neutralised on Friday while meeting at two hideout camps.

The joint military operations cleared and destroyed the terrorists’ hideout camps in each of the four villages located on the fringes of Sambisa Forest.

Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency expert and security analyst in the Lake Chad region, said in Maiduguri: “The troops stormed and cleared some of the terrorists’ hideouts in Churchur, Mbaiwa, Kashimiri and China villages.

“Other newly established villages of the Boko Haram were also destroyed in the joint operations launched on February 10, 2023.” While neutralising the terrorists, he said that the ground troops made contacts with them before launching an offensive, killing seven.

According to him, other terrorists, however, fled their enclaves, leaving behind women, children and the aged. He noted that the troops successfully destroyed the four hideout camps, before rescuing over three dozen women and their children.

He added that the troops made sure that the villages were also cleared of all suspected terrorists in the forest. On Friday’s operation, Makama, explained that the bombardments of the hideouts followed a one-week inter-rivalry clashes between Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terror groups.

According to him, the latest offensive was launched by multiple airstrikes in Gaizuwa Community, Bama local council. A military source in Maiduguri also added: “On receiving credible intelligence on the massive terrorists’ meetings, two fighter jets under Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) carried out strikes on the targeted hideout camps.”

The source explained that on reaching the overhead targets, the pilots observed a gathering of over 100 terrorists with dozens of them on motorcycles.

On how the terrorists were neutralised, Makama said: “The fighter jets used a mixture of bombs and rockets,” adding that the two fighter jets carried out a series of strikes and scored devastating hits on the targets.

“The Military airstrikes killed scores of terrorists, while some of the survivors scrambled to safety in various directions.” Besides, he added that the multiple airstrikes also destroyed several weapons and motorcycles used to attack communities on the fringes of the forests in Bama, Konduga, Damboa and Chibok local councils. He further disclosed that some of the survivors were forced to lay down their arms and surrender to troops of the 21 Armoured Brigade, Bama. (Text, excluding headline, The Guardian)

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