Muti-national joint task force kills 20 ISWAP members

Troops of the Mult-inational Joint Task Force on Monday neutralised 20 terrorists in the ongoing offensive operations to clear Islamic State terrorists from the Lake Chad area.

MNJTF’s Chief of Military Public Information, Col. Timothy Antigha, who confirmed this in a statement, said the terrorists were killed by troops operating around Arege, Malkonory and Tumbum Rego general area.

According to Col. Antigha, several gun trucks, arms and ammunitions, as well as a vehicle borne improvised explosive devices meant to disrupt troops advance were destroyed.

“Unfortunately, four personnel of the MNJTF were wounded during the fire fight and have been evacuated for urgent medical attention.

“The MNJTF remains committed to delivering the mandate of the force and therefore, urges continuous support and solidarity of the good people of the Lake Chad region,” he said.

The joint task force with headquarters in N’Djamena, Chad in February launched a new operation code-named ‘Operation Yancin Tafki’ to push back Boko Haram insurgents to the Lake Chad fringes.

This new operation is a follow up to the summit of governments of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, including Cameroon Republic, Chad, Nigeria and the Niger Republic last year in N’Djamena.

The summit led by President Muhammadu Buhari agreed to fine-tune bilateral relations and agreement aimed at dealing with the Boko Haram problem.