BY ABDULLAHI ISAH, MAIDUGURI
The Chief of Army Staff,(COAS), Lt. General Tukur Buratai has inspected military hardware recently deployed to the Operation Lafiya Dole theater which will inevitably lead to the final defeat of Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East of the country.
General Buratai, who was highly elated after the inspection said, “ I am very confident that with the array of weapons we have just inspected Boko Haram will be completely defeated soon.”
Answering reporters’ questions on the recent joint operation between the Nigerian Army and their Cameroonian counterparts, General Buratai said that it is a positive development that has opened up a new phase in international warfare which has shown the world that Africa has come of age.
“The recent successes recorded in Gulumba Kumshe axis and the Alagarno Talala axis is a classical example of what joint operations can do,” the COAS stated.
The Army Chief is also scheduled to have an interactive session with Borno elders, see the troops at the battle field to boost their morale and ginger them to take the war against insurgency to its logical conclusion.
Among the military hardware inspected includes vehicles, motorcycles, ammunitions, unmanned Motor vehicles among others which were recently deployed to effectively execute the war.
In a releated development, Nigerian troops in continuation of the war against insurgency have carried out major operations against the Boko Haram terrorists in locations in Talala and Kumshe axis. The joint operation which was carried out with Cameroonian forces was successful as a number of the terrorists were killed while some of their weapons and equipment were either destroyed or captured.
The Army in a press statement issued by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman Kukasheka said the joint operation between elements of 7 Division and the Cameroonian forces along Banki-Kumshe axis, led to the killing of 20 Boko Haram terrorists, destruction of 4 AK 47 rifles and capture of a truck mounted with an Anti-Aircraft Gun (AA Gun) and 2 AK 47 rifles, as well as a 60mm mortar and a Dane gun. Unfortunately, he said, three soldiers sustained injuries and a vehicle was damaged as a result of the explosion of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). Troops also encountered about 10 other IEDs along the route of advance which were cleared. Most of the terrorists ran in disarray towards Fatake where troops on blocking position cleared them.
Along the Talala axis, despite the explosion of an IED which resulted in one soldier being wounded and a vehicle being damaged, the operation is progressing very well. More so as the Nigerian Air Force has been assisting with interdiction and surveillance.
Troops at Kodo also rescued 150 persons who were mainly women and children. In addition, a house with Boko Haram terrorists’ flag at Fatake caught fire with the explosion of several ammunitions leading to the death of three Boko Haram terrorists who were in the house.
