The Nigerian military says its troops in the North-East killed 343 Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters between 18th of March to 5th of May 2020.
The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Major-General John Enenche at a media briefing on Wednesday also confirmed that the Military also succeeded in rescuing and restoring peace to some of the villages attacked by the insurgents within the months under review.
“…air interdictions were conducted, which led to the destruction of several BHT logistics facilities and compounds, housing some of their leaders including Abu Usamah and a number of their fighters who were eliminated. Similarly, a total of 343 BHT/ISWAP fighters were killed and several others suffered various degrees of gunshot wounds with narrow chances of survival. This is in addition to several others, including their key leaders, killed by Air bombardments.” Enenche said.
He, however, said some undisclosed numbers of troops also died and wounded in action.
Similarly, the troops also succeeded in neutralizing 146 bandits and rescued 16 kidnapped victims in Kastina and Zamfara States.
“Several bandits locations and hideouts were cleared with Close Air Support provided for ground troops. In all, a total of 17 kidnapped victims were rescued and united with their families and 146 bandits were neutralized in Katsina and Zamfara States. Within the same period, troops of Operation HADARIN DAJI recovered several arms and ammunition among other equipment. Our agile troops also rescued 922 Rustled Cattles and 446 sheep. However, 4 soldiers paid the supreme prize.” The statement read.
Since the activities of the insurgents started in 2009, more than 300, 000 people have been reportedly killed and three million displaced, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Violence committed by Boko Haram has affected about 26 million people in the Lake Chad region and displaced 2.6 million others, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
