LAGOS, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Airstrikes by Nigerian troops have destroyed a new Boko Haram settlement at Mana Waji in the restive northeastern state of Borno and killed several militants, an official said on Sunday.
The airstrikes were conducted by the air task force of Operation Lafiya Dole on Friday after a series of surveillance found the settlement, John Enenche, a military spokesperson said in a statement available to Xinhua.
A series of aerial surveillance missions revealed that "the new settlement was being used to store their weapons and logistics items as well as to plan and stage attacks," Enenche said.
According to the spokesman, on sighting the military aircraft, the insurgents were seen fleeing the location.
The aircraft "engaged the new location in successive passes, leading to the destruction of some of the structures and logistics stores," he said.
"Several insurgents were also neutralized in the process," he said, without giving an exact number of insurgents killed.
The Boko Haram group has been trying to establish an Islamist state in northeastern Nigeria since 2009. The jihadist group has also extended its attacks to countries in the Lake Chad Basin. Enditem
