Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole have continued to maintain the momentum in the ongoing Operation Deep Punch II to seek out and clear Boko Haram insurgents from enclaves in the northern fringes of the Lake Chad Islands and the Sambisa region.
On Monday, combined troops of Operation Lafiya Dole and the Cameroonian Defence Forces in a clearance operation took the battle to the terrorists in their enclaves at Kusha-Kucha, Surdewala, Alkanerik, Magdewerne and Mayen villages, all situated along the Nigeria-Cameroon border.
In the fierce offensives, the gallant troops killed 33 Boko Haram insurgents and destroyed 15 locally fabricated rifles captured from them.
The troops also destroyed four Improvised Explosive Devices, several motorcycles and bicycles belonging to the insurgents.
Six hundred and three civilians held hostage by the insurgents were also rescued and conveyed to Bama and Pulka towns in Borno State, where they are currently being profiled before subsequent handover to Internally Displaced Persons camp officials.
Relatedly, as the clearance operations progressed, the combined troops tracked the insurgents to Bokko, Daushe and Gava villages, where they unleashed another attack on the fleeing insurgents, killing two of them in the fire fight and recovering one AK 47 rifle, a magazine, a trolley and unspecified quantity of petrol in Jerry cans.
The troops also extricated 194 civilians held captive by the insurgents and destroyed makeshift accommodations erected by the insurgents.
Additionally, the combined troops successfully cleared Miyanti and Wudila villages, where they rescued three men, 121 women and 209 children.
The rescued persons are undergoing profiling, preparatory to their handover to appropriate IDP camps.
Meanwhile, troops carrying out clearance operations from the Sabil Huda axis of the Sambisa forest have recovered a cache of arms and tools from Boko Haram insurgents’ enclave in the Sabil Huda area of the forest.
The munitions recovered included three Browny Machine Guns, two 81mm Mortar tubes, one 81mm Mortar tripod, one 60 mm Commando Mortar tube, 12 40mm AGL cartridge, five AK 47 rifles, one sniper rifle, three Pistols with one magazine loaded with four 9mm rounds, one damaged pump action rifle, two damaged G3 rifles, one Tear gas rifle, two Sub Machine Guns, five xG3 Magazines, four locally made rockets, 28 working parts of various weapons, 28 barrels of various weapons, three Browny Machine Gun bipods, two Anti Aircraft Gun Barrels, 12 Anti Aircraft Gun tripods, eight Tool boxes, one welding machine, one Hayab crane, Assorted ammunition links, one packet of electrode and one power generator.
A statement by the Deputy Director Public Relations of Operation Lafiya Dole, Colonel Onyema Nwachukw said: “Troops remain highly motivated in continuing with the operations to locate and clear Boko Haram insurgents from their hideouts.”