The Nigerian army on Sunday said it had killed a large number of insurgents in a recent combat operation along the Dikwa-Maiduguri Road in Borno State and other locations.

The actual number of those killed was not mentioned.

The army said the latest success was in compliance with the directive of Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Yusuf Buratai, a Major General, to the Nigerian troops to increase the tempo of their offensive against the Boko Haram sect.

The latest military onslaught codenamed, “Operation Zaman Lafiya Dole,” is aimed at taking the battle to the camps of the insurgents.

It was gathered that through a combined operation involving ground troops and men of the Air Force, the military dealt devastating blows on the terrorists.

The troops also recovered some items from the terrorists including vehicles heavily laden with Improvised Explosives Devices, IEDs, motorcycles, trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns, general purpose machine guns, ammunition and rifles.

The spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Sani Usman Kukasheka, could, however, not give the exact figures of the militants or military personnel killed in the latest confrontation.

Kukasheka said that in one of the operations, the military attacked the logistics base of the militants where IEDs were planted.

He said due to recent concerted efforts, roads and towns hitherto laced with mines and held by the terrorists such as Biu-Buni Yadi-Damaturu and Biu-Sabon Gari-Damboa roads have been liberated and cleared of the deadly mines.