The Defence Headquarters says troops neutralised 74 terrorists, apprehended 130 suspects and rescued 61 kidnapped hostages in various operations from March 5 to 13.

The director of defence media operations, Maj.-Gen. Markus Kangye made this known in a weekly report on ongoing military operations nationwide on Friday in Abuja.

Mr Kangye said the successful operations were jointly conducted by the land component of the armed forces with the team from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), security agencies and hybrid forces.

He said the troops recovered 71 assorted weapons, comprising 32 AK47 rifles, 15 locally fabricated guns, nine Dane guns, three pump action guns, two locally fabricated pistols and 10 other assorted arms.

According to him, troops also recovered 1,202 ammunition comprising 1,133 assorted rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and 69 live cartridges.

Mr Kangye said 143 terrorists, comprising five adult males, 66 adult females and 72 children, surrendered to troops within the North-East theatre of operation within the week.

According to him, one of the terrorists surrendered with two AK47 rifles, 33 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition and two magazines.

“The gallant men and women of the armed forces will continue to carry out their constitutional responsibilities of protecting lives and property of all Nigerians in line with our constitutional roles, rules of engagement and code of conduct for internal security operations,” he said.

(NAN)