The Forest has been subject to a lot of aerial strikes since February with the core aim of flushing out the militia. The vastness and speculations that the 200 hundred school girls kidnapped from Chibok were hidden in the forest has slowed down the maneuver.
Nigerian military in collaboration with troops from the neighboring countries launched a major offensive that has seen most captured towns recaptured from the Boko Haram. The main short term goal of the operation is to recapture the forest which is very vast and occupied by a game reserve.
The recapture of the Sambisa forest would be a major achievement as it would see the retaking of the largest Boko Haram bases and it would be more challenging because of the bad weather, and bad terrain. The Boko Haram has an advantage in the forest as they have lived there long enough and have mastered the terrain. The aerial bombardments will however serve to the advantage of the military as they will have an upper hand.
The collapse of Boko Haram is close in sight especially going by the word of the outgoing Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan who promised to completely eradicate the Islamists before handing down power to his successor.
Boko Haram has been the cause of thousands of deaths and an estimated 3 million have fled their homes since its break out in 2009.
