LAGOS, Nigeria
“Two truckloads” of Boko Haram militants were killed on Sunday by Nigerian warplanes in the Damboa area of northeastern Borno State, according to army sources and local vigilante groups.
The assertions follow recent army pledges to stage frontal attacks on militant strongholds in the country’s volatile northeastern region.
“Troops conducting a massive air and land assault took out two truckloads of terrorists in the Damboa area yesterday,” a Nigerian military source told Anadolu Agency on Monday.
The source, insisting on anonymity, said the airstrikes were part of “Operation Lafiya Dole” (“Peace by All Means”), which is reportedly based on a new military doctrine articulated last week by newly-appointed army chief Tukur Buratai.
Upon his appointment, Buratai asserted that peace must be “forced on” the militants, since the latter had rejected earlier government entreaties to lay down their arms.
Hassan Baba, for his part, a member of an anti-Boko Haram vigilante network, confirmed Sunday’s airstrikes.
"Over 40 Boko Haram fighters fleeing from army operations in two trucks were killed by fighter jets deployed in support of ground operations along the Maiduguri-Damboa road Sunday morning," Baba told Anadolu Agency by phone.
"Others fled after sustaining injuries. We’re trying to find them and tip off the military,” he added. “Their hideouts are now being preemptively raided.”
Army spokesman Sani Usman could not be reached for comment on the assertions.
Over the weekend, however, Usman had declared via Facebook that “Boko Haram terrorists are on the run; they have been flushed out around Bama [a local government area in Borno State] as well.”
