Members of the deadly Boko Haram terrorist group, have allegedly kidnapped scores of residents in Auno town, Borno State and taken them into the bush.
A military source confirmed this to SaharaReporters on Friday. However, the number of persons abducted cannot be ascertained at the time of filing this report.
Auno town is about 15 miles to the west of Maiduguri, the state capital.
SaharaReporters recalls that components of the Nigerian military’s Operation Hadan Kai in Borno State recently conducted strikes on the joint sects of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province terrorists who were camping around Wartek in the general area of Lamboa forest the State.1
SaharaReporters learnt that an ISWAP commander, Modu Sulum, as well as 20 other fighters, were killed by airstrikes on Sunday.
The ISWAP fighters were reportedly part of the network responsible for the killing of evasive Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau as well as the destruction of power transmission towers at Malanari along Maiduguri-Damaturu Highway.
They were taken out by airstrikes conducted by Alpha-Jets, L-39, and MI-35 helicopters.
The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig-Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, said in a release that the terrorists were killed in land and air offensives.
He said, “Nigerian Army troops of Sector 2 Joint Task Force North East Operation Hadin Kai in conjunction with the Air Task Force on Sunday 20 June 2021 inflicted heavy casualties on Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorist groups who were camping around Wartek in the general area of Lamboa forest.
“Acting on credible intelligence, the troops with close air support from the Nigerian Air Task Force component swiftly carried out a simultaneous land and air offensive, penetrating deep into Lamboa forest in Borno State.
“The troops overran the position of the terrorists with a heavy volume of fire from both land and air, killing over 20 insurgents.”
Also, he stated that six others were killed when they attempted to infiltrate an army base in Kumshe.
He said, “Troops of Operation Hadin Kai deployed at the Forward Operational Base (FOB) of 152 Battalion, Kumshe on Sunday, dealt with elements of Boko Haram terrorists on a suicidal infiltration attempt into the camp.
“The terrorists mounted on four gun trucks and several motorcycles attempted to infiltrate and attack the camp through the northern part of the troops’ deployment, but were met with fire leading to the death of six terrorists.”
SR
