Nigerian troops kill three Boko Haram militants, arrest scores of suspected collaborators in northeast region

LAGOS: JULY 20 – Nigerian troops have killed three Boko Haram militants and arrested scores of persons suspected to have provided logistics and information support to the extremist group during multiple military operations in the country’s northeast region.

Onyema Nwachukwu, a spokesman for the Nigerian army, said in a statement Monday the three militants were killed in a recent ambush operation along the Banki Junction-Miyanti road in Bono state by troops from the 151 Task Force Battalion, while others escaped with bullet wounds.

Nwachukwu said troops of the same battalion also arrested Thursday some suspected Boko Haram members along with their families at the outskirts of Aza and Bula Daloye villages in Bama local government area of Borno following the continuous bombardment of their hideouts in the region.

“The arrested suspects comprised eleven adult male terrorists, five adult females and twelve children,” he said.

According to the army spokesperson, troops of 7 Division Garrison tracked and arrested Saturday some Boko Haram informants and logistics suppliers at Lawanti and Gongolun communities of Jere area of Borno.

He said the suspects had confessed to having been working as informants for the militants, whom they provide with information on troops’ movements, locations, deployments, the calibre of weapons and other activities.

They also admitted to having supplied the militants with basic logistics for their daily survival, ranging from fuel, drugs, mosquito nets and foodstuff, Nwachukwu said.

-XINHUA