Troops of the Operation Lafiya Dole have killed 75 Boko Haram terrorists and recovered weapons in the northeast.
The Coordinator Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche, confirmed this in a statement issued on Sunday.
According to him, the terrorists were killed in an ongoing offensive in the region that resulted in casualties on men and equipment as well as capture or surrendering of some of their fighters.
Enenche noted that the Boko Haram fighters met their death during 17 separate encounters with the troops from June 1 to June 30, 2020.
“It is evident from recent encounters with Boko Haram/ISWAP that the resilience of the troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE is being sustained across the North-East Theatre of operation resulting to high BHT/ISWAP casualties on men and equipment as well as capture or surrendering of some of their fighters.
“In their resolve to end BHT/ISWAP menace in the North-East region, from 1 – 30 June 2020, the gallant troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE had a total of 17 encounters with the marauding criminals, neutralizing 75 of them in the process,” the statement partly read.
Weapons recovered from the insurgents include one Anti-Aircraft Gun, 13 AK 47 Rifles, one Sniper Rifle, 21 locally made guns, 2 Dane guns and one Rocket Propelled Gun.
Others are three hand grenades, five Rocket Propelled Gun bombs, 205 rounds of Anti-Aircraft ammunition, 1018 rounds of 7.62mm Special ammunition and two Boko Haram flags.
The defence spokesman explained that one Gun Truck, one Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device, one Toyota Starlet car and several makeshift structures belonging to the terrorists were also destroyed by the gallant troops within the period.
He, however, regretted that during the period, one of their officers was killed and another injured in the process with 35 people rescued. Amongst those rescued are 18 women, 16 children and one adult male.
Speaking further, Enenche said four insurgents including two women were captured and later identified to be the wives of the local Boko Haram commander at Gajingi in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State.