Nigerian army patrols uncover Boko Haram weapons cache

ABUJA, Nigeria, April 18 (UPI) -- As insurgent Boko Haram strength wanes, the Nigerian army reported more caches of weapons and supplies were uncovered in raids across northeastern Nigeria.

In clearing remnants of the militant Islamist organization from their forest hideouts, troops found hidden arms, NATO-style ammunition, a mortar tube and an underground facility in which food was stored.

"Troops recover large cache of arms and ammunitions concealed by Boko Haram at Gursum," a Nigerian army comment on Facebook said.

In the Bama area of northeastern Borno state, "the troops discovered well-concealed observation posts on trees in the villages constructed by the terrorists to give them early warning of troops movement or approach," an army statement said Sunday.

"In addition the troops found out that the observation posts though tree tops, were constructed in such a manner with chairs and ropes to pull up foods and other needs by the sentry without necessarily coming down the trees,'' the statement continued, adding two Boko Haram insurgents were killed during the patrols.

The Nigerian government believes it has subdued Boko Haram, which has sought an Islamic caliphate in the country, after a six-year internal conflict. Patrols sweeping the country have found stocks of weapons and deserting insurgents as territory is freed and residents return to villages once overtaken by Boko Haram. The army also said it arrested key Boko Haram leaders through the use of wanted posters.

Mansour Dan Ali, Nigerian defense minister, said in March he expects all territory under Boko Haram control will be reclaimed within two to three months. He credited Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's challenge to vanquish Boko Haram for "changing the game." Buhari said in December 2015 the fundamentalist insurgents, who are aligned with the Islamic State, were essentially defeated and capable only of sporadic guerrilla attacks on soft targets like mosques and markets. Over 200 Nigerians have been killed in such attacks since the start of 2016.