PRETORIA, July 2. /TASS/. At least 70 militants from terrorist groups have been eliminated within the Lake Chad basin by the government forces of Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, Lieutenant Colonel Abubakar Abdullahi, spokesman for the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), said.

"The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) announces the significant achievements of Operation Lake Sanity 2 in combating terrorism within the Lake Chad Basin," Nigeria’s Channels TV station quoted him as saying.

In addition to 70 militants, five terrorist camps and eight vehicles were destroyed, the spokesman said. Abdullahi added that the operation focused on islets across the Cameroonian and Nigerian territories of Lake Chad where terrorist camps were situated. The recently formed Chadian Rapid Intervention Force actively participated in ground combat.

The Lake Chad region is currently one of the epicenters of terrorist bases in Sub-Saharan Africa with Boko Haram and the Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP, part of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) - TASS) having camps there.

The Multinational Joint Task Force, created in 1994 and headquartered in Chad's capital, N'djamena, also includes units from Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin and Niger.