“Boko Haram is finished” shouted a jubilant soldier from Niger as his comrades danced and waved their rifles in the air to celebrate the liberation of the northern Nigerian town of Damasak.
Graffiti painted on walls in Arabic and Boko Haram’s black and white flag fluttering on the dome of a mosque are now among the few reminders of the Islamists’ four-month reign over the town, which forces from Chad and Niger freed on Saturday.
The town’s recapture was the latest victory in a regional offensive that has turned the tide against the six-year old jihadi insurgency.
Hundreds of heavily- armed soldiers from Chad and Niger paraded triumphantly in Toyota pick-ups through the dusty streets of Damasak on Wednesday, cheering and waving their weapons after the town’s former occupiers fled into the surrounding countryside.
“Troop morale is sky-high,” said Niger force leader Colonel Toumba Mohamed. “We faced an enemy who had truly occupied this area and it wasn’t easy to push them out, but we did and now they are reduced to almost nothing.” It was a stark contrast to late last year when Nigerian forces scattered as the rebels, who are fighting to carve out an Islamist state in northern Nigeria, seized a swathe of towns in Borno state including Damasak and bore down on the regional capital Maiduguri.
By the start of this year, Boko Haram controlled around 20 local government areas, a territory the size of Belgium. In a dramatic reversal, Nigeria’s army said on Tuesday it pushed the rebels out of all but three districts.
The regional offensive launched this year by Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria comes as Africa’s most populous country and biggest economy prepares to hold elections on March 28.
In Damasak, abandoned vehicles and motorbikes lay by the side of the street, with shops and garages standing empty. The town was partially looted before it was recaptured but witnesses said it bore few battle scars.
Commanders said most of the fighting took place outside the town. Chadian soldiers displayed scores of weapons, many of them battered AK47 assault rifles, captured from the Islamists.
“The resistance was fierce. The enemy even had armoured personnel carriers,” Mohamed said, estimating that 300 insurgents were killed. “We have taken back our base. Tell the world never again,” soldiers shouted at visiting journalists.
— Reuters
Boko Haram beat hasty retreat
Graffiti painted on walls in Arabic and Boko Haram’s black and white flag fluttering on the dome of a mosque are now among the few reminders of the Islamists’ four-month reign over the town, which forces from Chad and Niger freed on Saturday.
The town’s recapture was the latest victory in a regional offensive that has turned the tide against the six-year old jihadi insurgency.
Hundreds of heavily- armed soldiers from Chad and Niger paraded triumphantly in Toyota pick-ups through the dusty streets of Damasak on Wednesday, cheering and waving their weapons after the town’s former occupiers fled into the surrounding countryside.
“Troop morale is sky-high,” said Niger force leader Colonel Toumba Mohamed. “We faced an enemy who had truly occupied this area and it wasn’t easy to push them out, but we did and now they are reduced to almost nothing.” It was a stark contrast to late last year when Nigerian forces scattered as the rebels, who are fighting to carve out an Islamist state in northern Nigeria, seized a swathe of towns in Borno state including Damasak and bore down on the regional capital Maiduguri.
By the start of this year, Boko Haram controlled around 20 local government areas, a territory the size of Belgium. In a dramatic reversal, Nigeria’s army said on Tuesday it pushed the rebels out of all but three districts.
The regional offensive launched this year by Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria comes as Africa’s most populous country and biggest economy prepares to hold elections on March 28.
In Damasak, abandoned vehicles and motorbikes lay by the side of the street, with shops and garages standing empty. The town was partially looted before it was recaptured but witnesses said it bore few battle scars.
Commanders said most of the fighting took place outside the town. Chadian soldiers displayed scores of weapons, many of them battered AK47 assault rifles, captured from the Islamists.
“The resistance was fierce. The enemy even had armoured personnel carriers,” Mohamed said, estimating that 300 insurgents were killed. “We have taken back our base. Tell the world never again,” soldiers shouted at visiting journalists.
— Reuters
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