Army searches for foreign terrorists inside Gombe International Hotel

THE Army has confirmed one soldier dead, two missing and 13 others wounded in an ongoing operation to rid remnants of terrorists from their hideouts in Borno State and the North-East generally.

Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier-General Sani Usman, made this known in a statement in Abuja, on Thursday.

He said the operation involved ambushes, cordon and search of the suspected remnants’ hiding places in the remote areas.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Usman said efforts were ongoing to locate the two missing soldiers.

According to him, on Wednesday, troops of 159 Battalion Artillery Detachment based on information and confirmation on the presence of suspected Boko Haram terrorists at Tula Udah Forest carried out heavy bombardment to neutralise them.

“Similarly, based on tip-off on the presence of foreign elements of Boko Haram terrorists from Chad and Niger, troops carried out cordon and search operations at Gombe International Hotel, Gombe State.

“However, nothing incriminating was found. More vigilance is being maintained in the area,” Usman said.

He said during the operations, 505 people, including male, female and children were rescued, while nine arrests, including six suspected terrorists, two fraudsters and one drug peddler were arrested.

Usman said one Boko Haram camp was destroyed during the exercise and two vehicles recovered, adding that the owner of one of the recovered vehicles was also arrested.