Abuja, Nov 26
Nigerian military has claimed responsibility for killing a "significant number" of suspected terrorists in a series of airstrikes recently launched to root out criminal groups around the Lake Chad Basin.
Olusola Akinboyewa, the spokesman for the Nigerian Air Force, told reporters in the Nigerian capital of Abuja that the airstrikes on Saturday targeted the enclaves of suspected terror groups at the Jubillaram area, located in the southern Tumbuns, near Lake Chad.
A suspected food depot of terrorists in the area was also destroyed during the air operation, Akinboyewa said, noting the military identified the strategic location through "meticulous intelligence efforts."
The location served as a critical food storage site and a sanctuary for terrorist commanders and fighters, according to him, news agency reported.
Akinboyewa said intelligence had previously linked terrorists in the location to recent attacks, adding aside from killing terrorists on-site during the recent raid, the military also ensured the "complete elimination" of fleeing hostile elements during mop-up operations, using cannons.
"The destruction of the terrorist enclave, including food storage facilities, severely disrupted their logistical operations, while the neutralization of a significant number of fighters diminished their capacity to launch future attacks," he said, without giving an exact number of suspected terrorists killed during the "successful operation."
Primarily aimed at combating the Boko Haram insurgency in the region, the Lake Chad Basin is covered by a multinational joint force, which consists of troops from bounding countries, including Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin, and Nigeria.