Nigerian Army Warplanes Bombard Sambisa Forest, Terrorists On The Run, Weapons Recovered

Nigerian warplanes bombarded training camps and caches of weapons and
vehicles belonging to the Islamist group Boko Haram in the northeasterly
Samibisa forest on Thursday, the military said.

“The death of a large number of terrorists has been recorded while many
others are also scampering all over the forest and out of the struck
bases,” defence spokesman Major-General Chris Olukolade said.

After a year in which Boko Haram seemed to be gaining ground, seizing
swathes of territory, killing thousands of people and kidnapping hundreds
of mostly women and children, the tide has appeared to turn against them
in the past month, as neighbouring countries plagued by cross-border
attacks have weighed in.

Nigerian forces have killed more than 300 Boko Haram fighters during an
operation to recapture 11 towns and villages since the start of the week,
the military said on Wednesday, though it was not possible to
independently verify this and the military has in the past been accused of
exaggerating enemy casualties while understating its own.

Samibisa gained notoriety last year when more than 200 girls kidnapped by
Boko Haram from a secondary school in nearby Chibok were taken there. Some
of them escaped Samibisa shortly afterwards but most have remained in
captivity ever since.

Aerial surveillance of the forest has not revealed their whereabouts.

Reuters