Borno: Army Raid on Boko Haram Camps Leaves18 Persons Dead

SAN FRANCISCO, February 01, (THEWILL) – Seventeen members of the Boko Haram sect as well as a member of the military Joint Task Force (JTF) in Borno State, Operation Restore Order, were killed when the JTF raided some camps suspected to belong to members of the dreaded group.

The raid, which was carried out in two operations that were fully backed by gunship helicopters of the Nigerian Air Force, routed suspected Boko Haram camps in Sambisa Game Reserve in Bama Local Government and Farin – Ruwa Forest South West/East of Damboa Local Government Areas of the state on Wednesday and Thursday .

JTF spokesman, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, who disclosed this in a statement,Friday, said the military special squad routed the terrorists’ camps that were heavily fortified and equipped with training equipment. Musa said the Boko Haram camps were the ones used in conducting training for the recent attacks, killings and bombings in Maiduguri, Musari, Konduga, Biu, Bama, and Damboa communities.

He said while Boko Haram lost 17 of its members, JTF lost one personnel in the fierce battle ensuing from the attempt to destroy the terror camps.

Musa listed the items recovered after the destruction of the camps to include six AK 47 rifles, two G3 rifles, three pistols, a rocket propelled grenade bomb (RPG), a RPG tube and 20 RPG chargers.

He disclosed that two double-barrel rifles, 2,543 assorted ammunition, 33 assorted empty magazines, three laptop computers, 10 Motorola walkie talkies, 20 telephone handsets, 40 primed improvised explosive devices (IEDs) canisters, three bags of rice and two bags of beans, two jerry cans of palm oil, a bag of salt, a generator set, light green uniforms (sown and unsown) were also recovered from the camps.