By SUMAILA OGBAJE

The Defence Headquarters says the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole (OPLD) have eliminated nine Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists, intercepted their supplies and recovered cache of arms in different encounters in Borno.

Acting Director, Defence Media Operations, Brig.-Gen. Benard Onyeuko, in a statement on Saturday, said the troops had continued to exhibit doggedness and tactical superiority against remnants of terrorists in the North East theatre.

Onyeuko said the troops of Operation Fire Ball, a subsidiary of OPLD, had on Dec. 8, intercepted terrorists’ logistics from across the border towns to Sambisa Axis on Pulka-Firgi-Banki Junction road.

He said that four of them were killed during the encounter while two bicycles, two pushcarts, several bags of dry catfish, grains and large quantity of other food items were seized.

Onyeuko said that troops of 151 Battalion had a similar encounter with some marauding Boko Haram terrorists on Firgi-Pulka road, killing three while others fled with varying degrees of injuries.

He also disclosed that troops of 112 battalion with elements of Borno State Civilian Joint Task Force conducted a robust fighting patrol to a suspected Boko Haram criminals harbour area in Mogoniri village on Dec. 7.

According to him, the highly motivated troops made contact and immediately engaged the criminals with high volume of fire forcing the terrorists to scamper and fled in disarray.

“In the aftermath of the encounter, one Boko Haram criminal was neutralised while one AK47 Rifle and nine rounds of 7.62mm Special Ammunition were captured from the fleeing criminals.

“In another development, troops of 21 Special Armoured Brigade conducted an aggressive fighting patrol to the general area of Gonori village towards the fringes of Sambisa Forest.

“Expectedly, troops made contact and engaged the criminals. In the ensuing gun battle, one Boko Haram criminal was neutralised while several others are believed to have escaped with gunshot wounds.

“Items captured during the encounter include; one AK 47 Rifle, one empty magazine and one Tecno phone,” he said.

Onyeuko, while commending the troops for their determination to flush out remnants of the terrorists from their hideouts, also encouraged them to continue to build on the successes recorded so far.

He also gave assurance that the military high command was determined to rout the remnants of the terrorists from their enclaves.

“They are also encouraged to avail the troops with credible information that will help in the execution of the operation,” he said. (NAN)