Nigerian troops attempt towards defeating Boko Haram hit a brick wall Thursday, as they were forced to retreat from Boko Haram’s Sambisa Forest stronghold after a landmine blast killed one soldier and three vigilantes, security sources said.
There has been claims that 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.
It is reported that most of the Boko Haram militants who had fled into Sambisa forest after their territories were recaptured by the military
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