Troops kill over 300 insurgents, recover weapons in Northeast operations

More than 300 suspected Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters have been killed in renewed military offensives across the Northeast and Northwest, as troops intensified clearance operations against insurgent enclaves and logistics networks.

The military also recovered hundreds of weapons, communication devices, fuel supplies and improvised explosive device (IED) materials during the operations.

Commander of Sector 2, Operation HADIN KAI, Beyidi Martins, disclosed this during a news conference in Damaturu, Yobe State, on Tuesday, according to a report by The Nation newspaper.

According to him, troops neutralised over 250 insurgents during coordinated offensives in Yobe and parts of southern Borno State.

The operations targeted terrorist hideouts within the Timbuktu Triangle, including Buk, Chileria, Kafa, Abbagajiri and Maisani.

Martins said more than 50 fighters were killed during direct assaults on camps in the Timbuktu Triangle and Bulabulin Forest, while over 200 insurgents died while attempting attacks on military formations in Kukareta, FOB Azir, Gonori, Buni Gari and Katarko.

“We carried out coordinated offensives in terrorist enclaves within the Timbuktu Triangle and other hideouts, leading to the neutralisation of several insurgents and destruction of their camps,” he said.

The commander said troops recovered more than 150 assorted firearms and large quantities of ammunition during the operations.

Items recovered included AK-47 rifles, PKT machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade tubes, mortar bombs, motorcycles, communication gadgets and materials used for manufacturing IEDs.