Military High command has confirmed the killing of top terrorists commanders and over 100 fighters in air and ground operations conducted on December 20, 2022 at Mantari in Gezuwa area of Bama local government area (LGA) of Borno State.
A statement by the director public relations and information, Air Cdre Edward Gabkwet named the three notorious Boko Haram terrorists as Khaids Abbah Tukur, Maimusari and Bakura Jega.
This is just as the chief of army staff, COAS, Lt. Gen. Faruk Yahaya, and his counterpart, the chief of air staff, CAS, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, arrived Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Sunday morning, to celebrate the yuletide with frontline troops.
He said the air strike was authorised after it was discovered that a Boko Haram terrorist commander simply known as Ikirima, had stationed his fighters and gun trucks at Mantari village, alongside other terrorists from other locations who had converged at the same location arrived with motorcycles and bicycles.
Following the authorization for an air strike leading to the elimination of several of the terrorists and structures in the area, he said of the first wave of air strikes, “some surviving terrorists found their way back to the same location to evacuate the bodies of those neutralized in the air strike.
“This thus provided an opportunity for a follow-up strike on the same location which has been confirmed very successful as over 100 terrorists were neutralized with dozens said to be in critical condition”.