Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole have continued in the clearance operation by killing 35 Boko Haram terrorists and rescuing 603 civilians held hostage.

The success was facilitated by a joint operation of troops of Operation Lafiya Dole and the Cameroonian Defence Forces, a statement from the Deputy Director Public Relations, Theatre Command Operation Lafiya Dole, Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu said on Tuesday.

The statement read in part: “In a clearance operation, the troops took the battle to the terrorists in their enclaves at Kusha-Kucha, Surdewala, Alkanerik, Magdewerne and Mayen villages, all situated along the Nigerian – Cameroonian border.

“In the fierce offensive, the gallant troops destroyed 15 locally fabricated rifles captured from them and destroyed 4 Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), several motorcycles and bicycles belonging to the insurgents.

“This latest feat comes a week after the military has been criticized for not doing enough in the abduction of over 100 students of Government Girls Science and Technical College Dapchi, in Yobe State, after gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists invaded the school.

“Among which is the Yobe State Government that blamed the abduction of the Dapchi schoolgirls on the withdrawal of security personnel from communities in the state.”

But the military was quick to defend itself stressing that the role of securing the school was vested with “sister security agency.”

As the war against terrorism seems not to have ended, Nwachukwu explained that the combined troops tracked the insurgents to Bokko, Daushe and Gava villages, where they unleashed another attack on the fleeing insurgents.

In the process, two of them were killed in the firefight and recovered one AK 47 rifle, a magazine, a trolley and unspecified quantity of premium motor spirit in Jerry cans.

While the troops remain motivated in continuing with the operations to locate and clear Boko Haram insurgents from their hideouts, the rescued persons are undergoing profiling, preparatory to their handover to appropriate IDP camps. (Channels TV)

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