Army retakes Gwoza from Boko Haram

The Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, has said the troops of the
Nigerian Army have captured Gwoza, the headquarters of the Islamic Caliphate, declared by
the Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East.Olukolade said in statement in Abuja on Friday
that the city fell to a joint operation carried out by the ground forces and the fighter pilots of the
Nigerian Air Force on Friday morning. Several ground forces were deployed from Madagali in Adamawa State and Bama in Borno for the crucial operation to reclaim Gwoza, which

the insurgents captured and renamed Darul Hikima last year.Olukolade said the troops had earlier sacked the
terrorists from several communities aroundGwoza before the final onslaught on the town
reputed to be the strongest Boko Haram enclave in the country.
According to him, the troops killed several of the
insurgents and captured many others.
The Defence spokesman added that troops
levelled the operational headquarters of the
insurgents and seized several arms and
ammunition from them.
He said the military had liberated all communities
erstwhile occupied by the insurgents as of
Thursday when the battle to reclaim Gwoza was
raging.
He said, “Just this morning, the gallant troops of
the Nigerian military in a concerted and well-
coordinated land and air operations, liberated
Gwoza, the headquarters of their(Boko Haram)
so-called caliphate, which they renamed Darul
Hikima.
“This was preceded by successive sacking of
terrorists from towns and villages leading to
Gwoza, the main target. Several of the terrorists
died and many of them captured in the process.
A lot of arms and ammunition have been
recovered and the administrative headquarters
completely destroyed.
“A massive cordon and search (operation) has
commenced to locate any of the fleeing terrorists
or hostages in their custody.”
He explained that the military observed that some
of the fleeing terrorists were heading to the
borders, where they might have encounter with
troops of the Multi National Joint Task Force,
who are under instruction to contain them.
Source: punch

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