The Defence Headquarters says the anti-terror fight is now focused on eliminating commanders of terror groups and bandits.
The DHQ also said the infrastructure of these terrorist and bandit groups and their foot soldiers would not be spared across the various theatres of operations.
Speaking during the bi-weekly briefing on the activities of the military across the country on Thursday in Abuja, the Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, said the terrorists and bandits were already counting their loss.
He said, “There is no doubt that these groups must be defeated and are indeed being defeated. It is for this reason we are inflicting severe damage on the terrorist, insurgents, and violent extremists through our operations across the country.
“Accordingly, we are targeting their leadership, infrastructure, and foot soldiers. The coordination between the air and ground forces is like never seen before and is yielding amazing results and achievements. “
Buba said no fewer than 113 terrorists were killed and 300 arrested in the last week.
He said, “The operations of the last one week resulted in 113 neutralised terrorists with 300 of them arrested. Troops also arrested 25 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 91 kidnapped hostages. In the SS, troops denied oil theft of the estimated sum of N571,793,350.00 only.”
Buba added that troops recovered 129 assorted weapons and 717 assorted ammunition.
Buba, however, warned troops on the frontline against human rights violations.
He said, “It is important to highlight that the AFN is a disciplined well-trained force that conducts its operation within the ambit of laws governing human rights and that of armed conflict. We have rules of engagement that are followed in the course of our actions. Nevertheless, there are standing court martials to put on trial any erring personnel that is found wanting during operations.”
