Nigerian Military: Boko Haram Have Anti-Aircraft, Anti-Tank Guns
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The military destroyed some of the heavy weapons in a raid.
The
Nigerian military said on Friday that it destroyed weapons, including
anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, owned by insurgents in Borno State.
The
military said in a statement that advancing troops of the Special Task
Force have destroyed some terrorists’ camps sited in the forests of
Northern and Central Borno.
The statement was
issued in Abuja on Friday and signed by Brigadier General Chris
Olukolade, the Director of the Defence Information.
In
his nationwide broadcast on May 14 while declaring a state of emergency
in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, President Goodluck Jonathan directed the
Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Ibrahim, to deploy more troops to
the three states. The president said the insurgents were not only
carrying out violent acts but had commenced the process of excising some
part of the Nigerian territory for themselves, and were mounting
strange flags.
Mr. Olukolade noted that heavy weapons, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, were also destroyed in the process.
He said the special operations, which preceded troop movement, resulted in the destruction of many of the insurgents’ weapons.
Logistics, it added, such as vehicles, containers, fuel dumps and power generators were also destroyed.
It said that “the casualties inflicted on the insurgents in the course of the assault will be verified during a mop up.’’
According
to the statement, the Defence Headquarters is quite satisfied with the
progress of the operation and the fighting spirit of participating
troops. It urged the Special Task Force to sustain the tempo.
Meanwhile, border posts have all been manned by security personnel to prevent escape or infiltration by the insurgents.
Security sources earlier said that at least 20 members of the insurgents were killed in the Sambisa forest operation.
Sambisa,
a forest that spreads over a distance of 300sq km from Damboa up to
Gwoza, Bama and the Cameroon border, has been a hideout and training
camp of the Boko Haram. The camp was first discovered early this year
when a military raid was launched there.
