Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
The Military High Command said yesterday that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, coordinated troops of Operation Lafiya Dole who decimated 134 insurgents.
It said the operation was part of Operation Kanta na Jimlan launched to bring the war to an end.
It said troops had intensified the campaign on various fronts especially within the Timbuktu triangle, leaving the insurgents and their leadership in complete disarray and thus setting the conditions for the commencement of the final assault.
“The ongoing subsidiary operation in the North-east Theatre of Operation codenamed ‘Operation Kantana Jimlan’ being conducted as part of the conclusive phase of Operation Lafiya Dole is already recording monumental successes.
“The operation, which is being conducted preparatory to the final routing of BHT/ISWAP criminals from the Nigerian territory by the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole and coordinated by the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, has intensified on various fronts, especially within the Timbuktu triangle, leaving the criminal elements and their leadership in complete disarray and thus setting the conditions for the commencement of the final assault on their evil enclaves and hideouts,” it said.
A war update issued by the Directorate of Defence Media Operations (DDMO) said several Boko Haram and ISWAP targets were engaged with precision by the Nigerian Army Artillery Regiments of Operation Lafiya Dole across the entire war theatre.
It said troops delivered accurate fire on the terrorists who fled in disarray.
“In one of such coordinated artillery bombardments conducted between May 1 and 2, 2020 around the Timbuktu Triangle general area by the Offensive Support Group of Operation Kamtana Jimlan, seven Boko Haram gun trucks were destroyed while 78 BHT/ISWAP fighters were killed as confirmed by both aerial and human intelligence,” it said.
The update signed by the Coordinator of the DDMO, Major General John Enenche, said within the same period, another successful artillery engagement to Buk in Damboa LGA of Borno State resulted in the killing 56 insurgents.
“Acting on intelligence that a large number of BHT members were converging at the location which they erroneously considered as being safe from aerial bombardment, the gallant troops of the Nigerian Army Artillery Regiments acquired and engaged the location with deadly precision, inflicting heavy casualties on them.
“As confirmed by our intelligence sources, only a handful of the terrorists escaped the location with gunshot wounds, with little chances of survival,” it said.
In a related development, 16 high-profile Boko Haram informants have fallen into the troops’ dragnet within the last two weeks.
It said the arrest of such high profile informants has significantly dislocated the information and supply chain of the terrorists.
The military said the “Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai who has been in the Theatre with the troops for the past five weeks congratulated the gallant troops for their resilience, courage and dedication to the noble cause of defending our fatherland against the criminal elements”.
He further urged them to remain focused and ruthless as they take the fight to the fleeing remnants of the enemies of the nation.
