He said: “On 7 Jan for instance, troops of 121 Battalion deployed at Pulka in Gwoza LGA of Borno State while on ‘Operation RUFE KOFA’ cleared and destroyed Boko Haram criminals’ hideouts at Zeledva Hills along Pulka – Bokko – Ngoshe Road in the same LGA.”
He added that the combined troops of 192 Battalion deployed at Gwoza, Theatre Strike Force (TSF) and Cameroonian Defence Force in conjunction with Civilian Joint Task Force and Local Hunters ascended the Ungwan-Gara-Kwatara mountain enclave of the terrorists.
According to him, on sighting the troops, the criminals fled the enclave in disarray, while the resilient troops went ahead to clear the hideout of any presence and activities of the insurgents.
He continued: “In the process, the troops rescue five abandoned captives including one octogenarian, three women and one minor.
“In a similar operation conducted by troops of 21 Special Armoured Brigade deployed at Bama on January 9, recovered a mutilated body parts of a neutralised B/Haram criminal from an earlier encounter and one AK 47 Rifle magazine.
“On Jan. 8, troops of 112 Task Force Battalion deployed in Mafa Local Government Area, decimated some Boko Haram criminals and captured one AK 47 Rifle and a bandolier of 7.62mm NATO ammunition.
“Other items recovered are four AK 47 magazines loaded with 120 rounds of 7.62mm Special ammunition while others were believed to have escaped with various degrees of gunshot wounds.”
Iliyasu further disclosed that the troops of 17 Brigade deployed at Tashan Bawa, Sabuwa Local Government Area of Katsina State engaged bandits with superior fire power and eliminated many of the bandits.
He added that other bandits fled into the nearby Madaci – Birnin Gwari forest with various degrees of gunshot wounds.
According to him, troops thereafter intensified the conduct of robust patrols in the general area to obviate further respite for the bandits.
Tags
Crime