Theater commander of the Lafiya Dole counter-insurgency operation, Major General Yushau Abubakar, said though troops of the 157 Battalion in border communities of Borno had recently come under heavy attacks from Boko Haram, he had not received any reports from field commanders that soldiers numbering up to 105 soldiers were unaccounted for.“We captured and held Gudumbal when our troops went there on raid and clearance of camps of Boko Haram. Of course we were attacked by Boko Haram but we repelled the attack. We don’t have any report of missing soldiers so far. As far as we’re concerned, the operation is still ongoing. In fact, I spoke with the OC (officer in charge) this morning and all I can tell you is that our troops are holding the ground.”
General Abubakar, who said this at a press conference he jointly granted with Air Commodore Dayo Amao, disclosed that his troops were fully on ground and in control.
On the gains made over the disintegrated Boko Haram, the theater commander said desperate Boko Haram terrorists who may have obviously run out food supply had resorted to sending their families to IDP camps where they could easily be fed, while some of them would later join them under the guise of being displaced persons.
“Desperate Boko Haram men are now pushing their families to the IDPs camps in Maiduguri and subsequently attempt to enter the city through various means; some of them have been arrested while attempting to enter the state capital. This is because the insurgents’ logistics including foods supplies and fuel have been degraded.”
He said that, in the last one month, the Army had made several arrests including the mastermind of the ambush on the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, when he was going towards Gamboru.
“He was arrested in Matari village in Yobe State,” General Abubakar added.
No comments:
Post a Comment