A military strike on a Boko Haram camp
in Nigeria’s restive northeast last week killed 150
Islamists and 16 soldiers, an army spokesman
said Wednesday. The army’s claim of a major offensive against the
Islamist insurgents on September 12 came after
local media reported that Boko Haram had
ambushed a group of soldiers in the same area,
killing 40 and leaving dozens of others missing. Military officials were not available to comment
on the reported Boko Haram ambush, speaking
only about the purported military strike. Details of last week’s military operation had not
been previously made public.
Officers of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF)
patrolling in Maiduguri in a sweeping offensive
against Boko Haram militants.
“It was a highly fortified insurgent camp with
heavy weapons in (northeastern) Borno State,”
army spokesman Ibrahim Attahiru said, adding
that the camp was in the Kasiya forest. “The army raided the camp on September 12.
Some 150 Boko Haram terrorists were killed,
while the military lost 16 soldiers. Nine soldiers
are still missing,” he told AFP. Borno was placed under a state of emergency in
mid-May, when the military shut down the mobile
phone network to block Islamists from
coordinating attacks amid an operation aimed at
crushing the insurgency. With the communication network switched off,
details of attacks have been slow to emerge and
difficult to verify. Residents, victims as well as local political leaders
have been largely unreachable, with military
statements forming the main source of
information in the ongoing offensive against
Boko Haram.
in Nigeria’s restive northeast last week killed 150
Islamists and 16 soldiers, an army spokesman
said Wednesday. The army’s claim of a major offensive against the
Islamist insurgents on September 12 came after
local media reported that Boko Haram had
ambushed a group of soldiers in the same area,
killing 40 and leaving dozens of others missing. Military officials were not available to comment
on the reported Boko Haram ambush, speaking
only about the purported military strike. Details of last week’s military operation had not
been previously made public.
Officers of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF)
patrolling in Maiduguri in a sweeping offensive
against Boko Haram militants.
“It was a highly fortified insurgent camp with
heavy weapons in (northeastern) Borno State,”
army spokesman Ibrahim Attahiru said, adding
that the camp was in the Kasiya forest. “The army raided the camp on September 12.
Some 150 Boko Haram terrorists were killed,
while the military lost 16 soldiers. Nine soldiers
are still missing,” he told AFP. Borno was placed under a state of emergency in
mid-May, when the military shut down the mobile
phone network to block Islamists from
coordinating attacks amid an operation aimed at
crushing the insurgency. With the communication network switched off,
details of attacks have been slow to emerge and
difficult to verify. Residents, victims as well as local political leaders
have been largely unreachable, with military
statements forming the main source of
information in the ongoing offensive against
Boko Haram.
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