Troops Uncover ISWAP Underground Armoury In Sambisa Forest

Troops of 21 Armoured Brigade of “Operation Hadin Kai” of the Nigerian Army have recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition from the Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP) insurgents in Sambisa Forest.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the troops discovered the massive armoury with arms and ammunition when they invaded Ukuba camp in the fringes of Bama local government area of Borno State, as part of ongoing counter terrorists “Operation Desert Sanity II” on Saturday.

This came nearly two weeks after the troops raided the same camp and recovered six anti-aircraft guns, four Ak 47 rifles, several quantities of IEDs making materials, a cache of magazines, and a Hilux vehicle mounted with an Anti-Aircraft Gun.

Intelligence sources said the large quantities of weapons was discovered in hidden dug pits concealed by the terrorists group.

The sources said that this time, several variants of Rocket Propelled Grenade Tubes, SMG Rifle, Double Barrel gun, 50 hand grenades bombs, 5 SMK bombs among others were recovered.

Others included 183 Shilka rounds, several IEDs making materials, non-electric detonators, many already prepared IEDs, as well as several canister bombs.

The sources revealed to Zagazola Makama,  a counter-insurgency expert and security analyst in Lake Chad that as the troops were withdrawing from the general area, one  terrorist  was seen and naturalised while one AK47 rifle and other items were recovered from him.

The sources said that the troops successfully evacuated the arms from the scene after clearing the general area, noting that the troops morale and fighting spirit have been further boosted by the outcome of the operations so far.

The troops of “Operation Desert – Lake- Mountain II” which commenced on 27th April 2023, in the axis of the Sambisa-Timbuktu Triangle and the shores of the Lake Chad are making steady inroads as ground and backed by air support continue to sustain pressures on the terrorists, killing scores of them while many others were forced to flee.

Some of the terrorists’ hideouts that were cleared recently included Garno, Alafa, Alafa D, Garin Doctor, Njumia, Izzah, Farisu, Somalia, Ukuba, Garin Glucose, Garin Ba’aba and Bula Abu Amir.