Nigerian troops were forced to retreat from Boko
Haram’s Sambisa Forest stronghold in the restive
northeast after a landmine blast killed one soldier and
three
vigilantes, security sources said Thursday.
Military top brass said on Wednesday that soldiers were
conducting offensives “in
some forest locations” in the area after it was
announced last week that operations were imminent.
The Sambisa Forest is located in the state of Borno,
some 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the town of Chibok,
from where more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped
in April last year.
It has been claimed the 219 schoolgirls still being held
were initially kept in the former game reserve, although
others have said they may have been split up and
moved to Chad or Cameroon.
Defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said in a statement
that a senior Boko Haram commander was killed, as well
as a number of militants who attacked a patrol.
“The operations especially in forest
locations are progressing in defiance of obstacles and
landmines emplaced by the terrorists,” he added.
But progress has been severely hindered because of
improvised explosive devices, a civilian vigilante involved
in the operation
told AFP in an account backed by a
security source.
“Boko Haram have buried landmines all over the routes
leading to their camps in the forest, which is no doubt a
huge obstacle retarding the military offensive against
them,” he told AFP.
Troops withdrew just five kilometres from Boko Haram’s
main camp in the densely forested area because of
landmines.
“We decided to turn back since the route was unsafe. As
we were driving back, one of the vehicles carrying CJTF
(Civilian Joint
Task Force) hit a mine,” he added.
“A soldier and three CJTF were killed
while another soldier was injured. We trudged along and
made it back to Bama yesterday (Wednesday).”
The vigilante added: “There are no
soldiers in Sambisa right now. We all returned to Bama
after the horrifying experience of manoeuvring through
minefields.”
– Persistent threat –
There was no immediate response from the military,
which with its military coalition partners Chad, Niger and
Cameroon has driven out Boko Haram from captured
towns in recent weeks.
“Boko Haram are in large numbers in Sambisa,” said the
vigilante, who
requested anonymity for security reasons.
“All their fighters who were pushed out of Bama, Dikwa,
Gwoza and Damboa (in Borno state) all moved to Boko
Haram camps in Sambisa,” he added.
Details of the offensive came as a series of photographs
circulated on social media accounts linked to the Islamic
State group of heavily armed fighters, purportedly
from Boko Haram.
No independent verification was possible but some of
the accounts said the images were released under the
name “The Islamic State in West Africa”.
Boko Haram chief Abubakar Shekau
pledged allegiance to IS group leader Abu Bakr al-
Baghdadi in March. The Middle Eastern militants
responded by urging Muslims to support the rebels in
Nigeria.
Experts have seen the formal tie-up as a sign of
weakness by the Nigerian Islamists but warned not to
write off the group, which continues to mount smaller-
scale attacks in the region.
According to residents of Kalabalge, who fled to the
Cameroon town of Fotokol, Boko Haram fighters have
taken over the Borno state town, which is near Nigeria’s
border
with Chad.
Thousands of Shuwa Arabs — who are from the same
ethnic group as many Chadian soldiers — have been
pushed out of villages in the area since the Nigerian
army seized the group’s headquarters in Gwoza last
month.
Resident Grema Gana said there were “light-skinned
fighters of north African extraction” in the militant ranks,
adding that Chadian forces operating in the area had
detained some of them.
Another resident, who asked not to be named for his
own safety, said Chadian troops conducted an operation
in the Kalabalge area on Monday as Boko Haram had
returned after being driven out.
He also said “some foreign fighters from north Africa”
were detained.


http://bamisepeters..in/2015/04/boko-haram-chase-nigerian-troops-from.html?m=1

they no go just bomb the whole forest ni

these turn by turn thing has not stopped yet,today "military chase boko haram" and tomorrow "boko haram chase military".