Nigeria confirms death of 55 Boko Haram militants
Fifty-five Boko Haram militants have been killed in
the past two days in a joint operation by Nigerian, Chadian, Cameroonian,
Beninese and Niger forces, the Nigerian army said on Thursday.
Joint multinational security forces also seized
large-caliber ammunition in the Lake Chad Basin, said Timothy Antigha, a
Nigerian army officer and spokesman for the multinational forces.
The operation against terrorists took place in
Tumbun Rego, a major haunt of terrorists in Lake Chad, Antigha said.
The bodies of 33 neutralized terrorists were found
in Tumbun Rego, while another 22 were killed in a separate operation in Arege,
a Nigerian border town known as another Boko Haram hideout near Lake Chad.
Antigha said the
operation would be intensified through attacks, ambushes and fighting to drive
the terrorists out of their last bastion of Lake Chad.
Last December, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari
and his counterparts from the Lake Chad Basin Commission re-committed to ending
the Boko Haram insurgency, declaring “the final battle”.
