Nigeria’s air force on Thursday bombed Boko Haram strongholds in northeast Borno state, killing “a large number of terrorists”, as a four-nation offensive against the insurgents presses on, a military statement said.

The targets of the bombardment included the town of Gwoza, where Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau first proclaimed the existence of a caliphate inside in Nigeria in August, and the notorious Sambisa Forest area, where the rebels have had camps for years. “The air strikes which today targeted… Sambisa forests and parts of Gwoza have been highly successful,” defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said in a statement. “The death of a large number of terrorists has been recorded.”

Nigerian military claims of successes against Boko Haram have in the past not been consistent with witness accounts and it was not immediately possible to verify the details of the latest operation.

The Sambisa Forest is believed to be the area where more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in April were taken before being divided into groups and moved.

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