The Nigerian Army says its troops are making tremendous progress as the ongoing special operation in the Sambisa forest tagged: `Operation Crack Down’ enters day 12.
The Army said this in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by the acting Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman.
It said troops of the Army’s 21 Brigade, 7 Division had killed more of the suspected terrorists while advancing in the Sambisa forest.
It said that four more villages in the terrorists’ enclave including Bala Karege, Goske, Harda and the famous Markas 3, had been cleared.
The statement said the troops cleared the villages on Sunday May 8, 2016 with no encounter with the terrorists as they had abandoned their enclaves before the arrival of the troops.
Usman said the advancing troops recovered several arms, ammunition and items from the terrorists’ enclaves.
According to the Army spokesman, items recovered include suicide vests and quite a number of high calibre weapons.
“The weapons include; one Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) Bomb, 18 rounds of 23mm Shilka ammunition, one Barrel of AK-47 rifle and one Extra-barrel of General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG).
“Others include; three AK-47 rifle magazines, metal link of 12.7mm ammunition, a heavy-duty solar panel battery, 10 vehicles and 50 motorcycles belonging to the fleeing terrorists.’’
Usman said the Boko Haram terrorists from another part of the Sambisa forest took advantage of the heavy downpour that occurred to move closer to the troops’ location on Sunday May 8, 2016.
He said the troops were very vigilant as they successfully dealt with the terrorists, killing eight of them and recovered two vehicles.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the military has reportedly recorded huge successes in the 12 day-old special operation to rid the Sambisa forest and adjourning areas of Boko Haram elements.