Army Kills Top Terrorist, Invades Sambisa

A top terrorist commander, Abu Mojahid, was killed on Tuesday morning in an encounter with troops in the outskirts of Alagarno, Borno State. This is part of the final defeat of the Islamist sect which has also seen the military storming the last known stronghold of the insurgents in Sambisa Forest on Wednesday.
Defence Spokesman, Major General Chris Olukolade, said in a statement that Abu Mojahid was among terrorists killed in the Alagarno battle. The terrorists had launched a daring attack on troops who were on patrol of the area. Some rocket-propelled grenades as well as vehicles mounted with anti- aircraft guns were either captured or destroyed in the encounter. Meanwhile, the military operations are continuing in the form of offensive action on identified terrorists locations in the forest. Aggressive patrols, mopping up and cordon and search are also continuing in the other locations.
Improvised explosive devices planted by the terrorists are also being carefully cleared as troops continue to pursue fleeing ones. The operations, especially in forest locations, are progressing in defiance of all obstacles. Also yesterday, the military, backed by warplanes, invaded the insurgents’ last known stronghold, the Sambisa Forest, miliyary sources said. Armies from Nigeria and neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroun have in the past two months launched a concerted push to try to crush the insurgents, who have killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds in their quest to establish an Islamic state.
The Sambisa Forest in northeast Nigeria is about 100 km from Chibok where the Islamic insurgents abducted over 200 secondary school girls a year ago. Intelligence officials had believed that this was where they were being held. However, U.S. reconnaissance drones failed to find them. The militants controlled a large area at the start of the year, but have since lost much of that ground. Yet they remain a deadly threat to civilians, as evident on Friday when they slit the throats of 12 people in northeast Nigeria as the army was trying to evacuate the area around the former Boko Haram headquarters of Gwoza.