LAGOS, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian air troops operating in the restive northeast region killed "scores of" Boko Haram militants in air strikes at Mina along the Gulumba Gana-Kumshe axis in Borno state, the country's military announced in a statement on late Saturday.

Nigeria's defense spokesperson John Enenche said in the statement that the air raids also destroyed the terrorists' logistics supplies at the location.

Enenche said the air interdiction missions being executed under the subsidiary Operation Long Reach II on Friday, had further destabilized the terrorists' new leadership and curtailed their freedom of action.

He said the operation was a sequel to intelligence reports indicating that the terrorists' location had recently been reinforced with fighters and logistics supplies to provide resistance against troops' positions.

According to him, confirmatory surveillance missions also observed significant numbers of terrorists in the settlement.

The defense spokesperson urged troops to intensify the air offensive against the terrorists and all other criminal elements threatening the peace and security of the country.

Boko Haram launched a bloody insurgency in 2009 in northeastern Nigeria but later spread its atrocities to other countries in the Lake Chad region, which prompted a united military response.

Thousands of people have been killed and millions others displaced in the over-a-decade Boko Haram violence in Nigeria and neighboring countries. Enditem

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