April 4, (THEWILL)- Military troops of the Nigerian Armed Forces have neutralised 2,351 terrorists, arrested 2,308 and rescued 1,241 kidnapped hostages in the first quarter of 2024, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) disclosed on Thursday.
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, who disclosed this in Abuja, said several terrorist commanders were among those killed.
Some of the terrorist commanders neutralised by the troops include: “Abu Bilal Minuki (aka Abubakar Mainok) – Head of Is-Al Furqan Province (ISGS and ISWAP), Haruna Isiya Boderi killed on 21 February, Kachallah Damina (neutralised on March 24, by troops alongside over 50 combatants), Kachallah Alhaji Dayi, Kachallah Idi (Namaidaro), Kachallah Kabiru (Doka), Kachallah Azarailu (Farin-Ruwa), Kachallah Balejo, Kachallah Ubangida, Alhaji Baldu, among several others.
“We have been collecting intelligence, hunting them and striking them where they may be hiding and hibernating. Our aim is to kill these terrorists and the infrastructure that supports them. Accordingly, we have employed significant firepower to neutralise several terrorists and disrupt their activities.
“The above was achieved through synchronised strikes between the ground and air forces on terrorist enclaves,” Major General Buba said.
Speaking further, he said, “Troops conducted ambushes, raids, fighting patrols and offensive against the terrorist during the period January to March 2024 and resulted in 2,351 terrorists neutralised, 2,308 persons arrested and 1,241 kidnapped hostages rescued.”
The troops also recovered 2,847 weapons, 58,492 ammunition and denied the oil theft of an estimated sum over N20bn (N20,331,713,910.00 only) within the period under review.
In a breakdown, he said troops recovered 1,497 AK47 rifles, 33,878 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 12,698 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 948 assorted arms and 5,520 assorted ammo.
Others were 21,573,310 litres of stolen crude oil, 2,723,430 litres of illegally refined AGO, 53,300 litres of DPK and 52,730 litres of PMS, amongst other items.
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