Scores of suspected members of the outlawed Boko Haram sect have been killed in Borno State during attacks carried out by ground troops and members of the Nigerian Air Force.

Speaking to journalists in Maiduguri, Captain Aliyu Danja, who stood in for the spokesman of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maiduguri, Lt. Col. Mohammed Dole, said with the support of the air force, some Boko Haram camps were attacked in Gowok and Marguba villages, leading to the death of scores of terrorists.

He said some of the terrorists who fled the camps into the bushes were pursued by troops.

Danja added that the terrorists’ camps were sighted through the assistance of members of the public who volunteered information.

The informants had told the military that a group of suspected terrorists was sighted crossing the Maiduguri-Damaturu federal highway in Kaga Local Government Area of the state.

He said based on the information, the military mobilised troops for the attacks during which a large number of the terrorists were killed and their camps destroyed.

He added that those who escaped during the attacks fled towards Marguba village but were pursued and killed.

Danja said after tracing the fleeing terrorists to Marguba village, where scores were also killed, others who escaped the second raid again headed towards Gubio Local Government Area, which is located in the northern part of the state.

Danja said the operation was still ongoing as troops were pursuing the fleeing terrorists, adding that with the commitment and dedication of the ground troops and the air strikes, the military is optimistic that none of the fleeing terrorists will survive the operation.

Danja who however said he would not be able to give the actual number of terrorists killed, added that as soon as the operation is over, the division would make public the number of terrorists killed.

•Credit (text only): ThisDay. Photo shows Nigerian troops hunting Boko Haram terrorists in Borno.

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