JTF kills 50 Boko Haram suspects

The end came at the weekend for about 50 suspected Boko Haram members in Borno, one of the three states under a state of emergency.
They were killed by the Joint Task Force after a raid of Zabarmari ward in Jere Local Government Area of Maiduguri .
Three suspected terrorists on their way to Jigawa state to unleash terror were arrested at Borno Express Motor Park on Saturday by volunteered youths, a.k.a Civilian JTF, a security source claimed yesterday.
Zabarmari, according to the source, is one of the black spots where Boko Haram operates in Maiduguri.
The source said: “At the weekend, we received intelligence report that Boko Haram terrorists regrouped and were residing/ hiding in Zabarmari ward. We mobilised our troops to the area. On getting there, the suspected terrorists noticed our presence and started shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is Great) as they fired sporadic gunshots at the JTF troops. We had no option than to repel the attacks as we succeeded in killing about 10 of the suspects.

“We did not take their bodies away, leaving them in the area. The following day when we mobilised our men to the area, we found out that hundreds of the terrorists were at the grave yard burying their dead and and as we approached, they started shooting at our troops which led to the exchange of gun fire, where we succeeded in killing over 40 of them”. The JTF source said. He could not be quoted because he does not have the authority to speak..
“As I am talking to you now, our men are still in Zabarmari hunting for any suspected terrorists who might have escaped the deadly encounter”. He added.
On the arrests of three suspected Boko Haram members who were allegedly on a suicide mission to Jigawa Statre, the source said, “The men of the JTF are highly delighted with the zeal/effort being put in place by the vigilance youths popularly called Civilian JTF.
The JTF source added: “They (the vigilance team) handed them to the JTF unit and one of them, now dead, said, they were from Bama Local Government Area on a suicide mission to Jigawa and other states in the north. In fact, the deceased, before his death, told us that already, all their weapons of massive destruction had been transported to the target areas before luck run out of them”.
Due to the total closure of GSM network services in Borno state, JTF Spokesman Lt. Col. Sagir Musa and Police spokesman Gideon Jubrin could not be reached to confirm the story.
Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika yesterday said the military is winning the war on terrorism.
He added however that it is a war that has tested the Army because insurgents have been disguising as civilians to ambush soldiers.
Gen. Ihejirika spoke at the Inter-Denominational Service at the All Saints Military Protestant Church, Mogadishu Cantonment, Abuja, to mark the 2013 Army Day Celebration. The army is 150 years old.
He said the military had made tremendous achievements, but a lot still had to be done.

Source