The Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Tukur Buratai, is said to have concluded plans to establish a Special Task Force battalion to be located in Sambisa Forest – a notable Boko Haram stronghold.
The Punch reports that the establishment of the new brigade is part of a bigger strategy to take the battle to the insurgents in their operational domains, amid efforts to reorganise the army on the heels of its disbanding its court-martial.
The Army spokesman, Col Sani Umar, had announced on Saturday that the force was reviewing all recent disciplinary cases due to a spate of litigation instituted by some aggrieved personnel.
The latest move is said to be part of the comprehensive plans to get the insurgents out of their Sambisa base and prevent them from having territories which they could use to carry out attacks in the Lake Chad Basin area.
The paper quotes a security source as saying that the planned brigade – to be named the 29th Special Task Force Brigade under the 7th Division – would be saddled with the responsibility of pursuing the insurgents in the vast region.
It is understood that the Army Chief decided to create the additional brigade to confront the insurgents in Sambisa because of the belief that some terrorists still maintain hideouts in the forest from which they have launched increasingly daring attacks on towns and villages in Borno.
The source said, “The new Chief is planning a new brigade in the mission area. The brigade is to be called 29th Special Operations Brigade under the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army.
“You know that the Sambisa Forest is very vast and they are still staging their attacks from the forest. What the Chief wants to do is to establish the brigade in the forest and take the fight to them.
“The brigade will be there permanently to go after the insurgents, destroy their stronghold and restore sanity in the area. The troops are very excited about the idea.”
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