The DHQ spokesman said the troops in one of the operations neutralised 52 terrorists, arrested 14 others and rescued three of the abducted Chibok girls named Jinkai Yama, Falmata Lawal and Asabe Ali.
By Jeffrey Agbo
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Thursday said troops of Operation Hadin Kai took out over 252 Boko Haram/Islamic States West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists in the last two weeks in the North East.
DHQ spokesperson, Maj.-Gen. Musa Danmadami, made this known at a news conference on Thursday in Abuja. The news conference is held bi-weekly to brief the country on military operations across the country.
Danmadami said the success was recorded in a series of land and air bombardments at the fringes of various villages and communities in Borno and Yobe.
The DHQ spokesman said the troops in one of the operations neutralised 52 terrorists, arrested 14 others and rescued three of the abducted Chibok girls named Jinkai Yama, Falmata Lawal and Asabe Ali.
According to him, they were rescued at different locations with their children and 19 other abductees.
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“Troops also recovered two unexploded grenade, 12 AK47 rifles, three FN rifles, five AK47 magazine, one automatic grenade launcher and one hand grenade.
“Also recovered are one AP mine, 86 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, one motorcycle, 16 bows and arrows, seven bicycles and 10 mobile phones.
“Also, a suspected foreign logistic supplier and arms dealer to the terrorists, named Mallam Abatcha Bukar, was arrested with assorted injections, two Automated Teller Machine cards and the sum of N294,520,” he said.
The DHQ spokesman said the land and air component had on September 3 launched an attack on identified terrorists’ enclaves at Gabchari in Bama Local Government Area of Borno and dealt a deadly blow to the terrorists.
He added that the air strike resulted in the killing of a large number of the insurgents, while the land component mopped up the fleeing terrorists.
“All arrested suspects and recovered items have been handed over to the appropriate authority while the surrendered terrorists and their families are being profiled for further action,” the DHQ spokesman added.