Brigadier-general BA Raji, commander of the 29th Task Force Brigade has said that children’s footprint have been spotted in Sambisa forest.
“Sometimes we see children’s footprints,” Raji told CNN.
The army chief explained that it was from this intelligence that troops use the most basic of tracking skills to hunt for evidence of people passing through.
He lamented insufficient needed equipment like thermal imaging cameras which has hampered their operations.
Raji said 30 ISR drone planes provide an “eye in the sky” that has helped the soldiers immeasurably, directing them to enclaves of Boko Haram captives, but not the Chibok girls.
Major-General Leo Irabor, the theater commander of Lafiya Dole in the Northeast, stressed the need for more international support to crush the insurgents.
Irabor while commending his men’s achievement in pushing back Boko Haram said Nigeria’s close cooperation with the United States in running operations based off of air reconnaissance has led to clearing a significant portion along the east of the Sambisa forest and some promising wins.
“We do have pockets of the Boko Haram terrorists still left in some places but very largely we’ve decimated them,” Irabo said.
Although the Boko Haram sect seems to have lost their territorial footprint, they are regrouping and using asymmetrical tactics, deploying waves of would be suicide bombers.
Irabor believes the militant group’s current capacity is ‘limited’ and credits his force’s recent missions for the halt in attacks.
The Nigerian army captured the spiritual base of the Boko Haram sect in Alagarno forest, Borno state on Thursday, March 3.
Irabor also stated that intelligence surrounding the
current location of the Chibok girls point to the Sambisa forest, where his forces continue to advance deeper.
