Colonel Usman added that during the clearance, the troops killed two militants and recovered military uniforms, one General Purpose Machine Gun, one AK-47 rifle and two dane guns.  He added that the troops also captured one militant alive, and gave his name as Musa Abdullahi. Usman said the troops encountered two Improvised Explosive Devices buried along their route of advance which they successfully detonated. “They also recovered two pick-up vans, 25 motorcycles, 30 bicycles and grinding machines as well as a large quantity of foodstuff,” he added.

The spokesman said apart from burying Improvised Explosive Devices, the militant  often contaminate sources of water in the area. He said on Saturday, soldiers of 121 Task Force Battalion, 26 Task Force Brigade, carried out clearance operations at Dure district.   Despite stiff resistance from the terrorists, the troops cleared Dure 1, Dure 2, Jango, Dibiye and other suspected Boko Haram hideouts within the general area of the district. He said three soldiers sustained injuries from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and were immediately evacuated for medical treatment and were in stable condition.

He added that another combined team of units under the 26 Task Force Brigade based in Gwoza same day cleared Amdaga Makaranta and Amdaga Madachi of remnants of Boko Haram terrorists. During the encounter,  two Boko  Haram fighters were killed. Usman said the General Officer Commanding 7 Division, Brigadier  General Victor Okwudili Ezugwu, noted that prior to the clearance operation, Dure 1 and 2 were Boko Haram  strongholds in the mainland  of  the Sambisa forest.
“The operation further revealed  the new and desperate strategy of Boko Haram terrorists,   hiding their  logistics, especially grains for the rainy season and the use of hand-held radios primed with Improvised Explosive Devices as booby-traps,” he said.