Nigerian Military Forces Corner Boko Haram Leader, Abubakar Shekau, In Borno Hills
https://nigeriaafrica1.blogspot.com/2013/07/nigerian-military-forces-corner-boko.html
The leader of the Boko Haram Islamic sect, Sheikh Abubakar Shekau, may have been cornered by operatives of the Joint Task Force in Gwoza hills, Borno State.
A top security source on Thursday said that the JTF had located the area where the Boko Haram leader was hiding.
The source stated, “We are combing Gwoza hills where we believe Shekau is hiding.”
The source added that a unit of the Army’s Special Forces team had launched a “well-coordinated assault” on a group of insurgents somewhere in the Gwoza hills areas on June 26, 2013. Shekau, the source added, was in the group of Islamists, with some of his closest aides.
He added that the operation ran into “hitches” and in the ensuing gun battle some of the insurgents and members of the Special Forces group lost their lives.
Another military source told Saturday PUNCH that one of the army casualties was one of the country’s best Special Forces officer, Major A.T. Fambiya, who had volunteered to lead the operation.
Sources told Saturday PUNCH five soldiers were also gunned down by the insurgents during the encounter.
Fambiya, who hailed from Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State, had reportedly volunteered for the mission because of his excellent knowledge of the area.
The source said the military authorities had accepted Fambiya’s offer because he had grown up in the area and he understood the area’s rocky terrain.
Fambiya, who was on posting to the 322 Artillery Regiment in Benin City, Edo State, was redeployed to the JTF on June 13, 2013, a few weeks into his deployment to the JTF’s Operation Boyona.
A brief biography of the late soldier presented by the Nigerian Army authorities during his burial at the Nigerian Military Cemetery, Abuja on Thursday stated that he “was killed in action on 26 June in a fierce encounter with Boko Haram terrorists.”
The secrecy surrounding the operation made the next of kin to the Major, a pastor, Iliya Joshua, to call on the Federal Government to investigate the cause of the death of his brother.
The source stated, “We are combing Gwoza hills where we believe Shekau is hiding.”
The source added that a unit of the Army’s Special Forces team had launched a “well-coordinated assault” on a group of insurgents somewhere in the Gwoza hills areas on June 26, 2013. Shekau, the source added, was in the group of Islamists, with some of his closest aides.
He added that the operation ran into “hitches” and in the ensuing gun battle some of the insurgents and members of the Special Forces group lost their lives.
Another military source told Saturday PUNCH that one of the army casualties was one of the country’s best Special Forces officer, Major A.T. Fambiya, who had volunteered to lead the operation.
Sources told Saturday PUNCH five soldiers were also gunned down by the insurgents during the encounter.
Fambiya, who hailed from Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State, had reportedly volunteered for the mission because of his excellent knowledge of the area.
The source said the military authorities had accepted Fambiya’s offer because he had grown up in the area and he understood the area’s rocky terrain.
Fambiya, who was on posting to the 322 Artillery Regiment in Benin City, Edo State, was redeployed to the JTF on June 13, 2013, a few weeks into his deployment to the JTF’s Operation Boyona.
A brief biography of the late soldier presented by the Nigerian Army authorities during his burial at the Nigerian Military Cemetery, Abuja on Thursday stated that he “was killed in action on 26 June in a fierce encounter with Boko Haram terrorists.”
The secrecy surrounding the operation made the next of kin to the Major, a pastor, Iliya Joshua, to call on the Federal Government to investigate the cause of the death of his brother.
