helicopters to bombard Boko Haram Islamic
camps in Sambisa Game Reserve, in Borno State,
which is one of their strongholds killing a
number of the insurgents. The Sambisa Camps
are believed to be harbouring their training and
enrolment base.
Over 3,600 military personnel comprising the
Army, Navy, Police, the Department of State
Security, DSS and other security agencies and
men of Counter Terrorists Squad, CTS, are said
to be involved in the campaign to rout the Boko
Haram insurgents from their hideouts in the
affected states.
Heavy weapons belonging to the insurgents
including anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns were
destroyed by the military fighter jets even as the
Nigerian Army's artillery long range surface to
air guns were also being used.
Director of Defence Information, Brigadier-
General Chris Olukolade told Reuters that
several camps had been attacked, including the
game reserve in Borno state, but did not give
further details.
"A number of insurgents have been killed. There
are a lot of casualties. It is not just Sambisa,
every camp is under attack. But we have not
done the mopping up operations on the ground
to determine the numbers killed," Olukolade
said, adding that, "there have been air strikes
since Wednesday, and were continuing
yesterday. I cannot tell you the actual number of
terrorists killed, but I am optimistic we are
making headway, and at the end of the
operation, we will be commended."
An unconfirmed report however, said that one of
the air strike jets was shot by the insurgents,
"but the pilots manoeuvred it successfully and
landed safely at the base."
This military offensive continued just as the
Army said yesterday that its personnel in Daura,
Katsina State foiled an attempt by the Boko
Haram sect to overrun the ancient town by
attacking and bombing government and public
institutions like police stations and banks,
causing mayhem and disrupting the peace of the
residents of the area.
Borno and Yobe states and their environs have
remained for two days without communication
as all the GSM networks were cut off to enable
the military accomplish their mission without
hitches.
No fewer than 35 of the insurgents had so far
been killed during the air strikes on their
training camps.
Military Spokesman, Olukolade confirmed that
jets and helicopter gunships had been used to
attack several camps.
Nigerian forces are trying to regain territory
controlled by increasingly well-armed Boko
Haram Islamist insurgents in their north-
eastern stronghold states of Borno, Yobe and
Adamawa, which were put under a state of
emergency by President Goodluck Jonathan on
Tuesday.
At Gamboru, Ngala and Marte towns on the
border with Cameroon in northern Borno,
residents said that heavily armed troops and
tanks arrived on Wednesday, sealing off
previously unmanned border posts.
Some sources said that many innocent people,
particularly those residing in the remote areas
along were not aware of the operations.The
Defence Headquarters in an update on the battle
to dislodge Boko Haram from the Northern
borders of the country, confirmed earlier reports
that it destroyed some terrorists camps in
Northern and Central Borno.
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