REPORT FROM NEWSWATCH TIMES
(NIGERIA) Nigerian troops have killed at least 75 Boko Haram insurgents during a fierce clash with the terrorists in Borno State, security sources confirmed yesterday.
It was gathered that the clash took place between Wednesday and Thursday evening, when more than 100 Boko Haram fighters stormed Bulaburin village and attacked military men escorting PHCN engineers to repair power installations destroyed by the insurgents about six months ago in Damboa.
The insurgents were said to have trialed the convoy with Hilux vehicles and motorcycles but met stiff resistance from the soldiers who gunned down 75 of them during the encounter.
Security sources said the soldiers in the convoy were alerted by villagers and they immediately took strategic positions, and subdued the insurgents.
The security source said: “Our soldiers climbed the telecom mast and saw them coming in large numbers in Hilux pick up vans, motorcycles and cars. The soldiers waited for them, and when the insurgents came, they were attacked from all angles immediately.”
Meanwhile, the military said in Abuja yesterday that it has commenced investigations into allegations of recent mass abductions by Boko Haram in Borno State.
A statement on the Defence Headquarters blog titled: “Troops are patrolling the general area of Gumsuri in search of terrorists”, the military said “although it was confirmed that some people were killed by the terrorists during the attack, the reported abductions as claimed by unidentified sources being quoted in some foreign media is yet to be verified from any credible sources in the community.”
Defence Headquarters assured that “troops are patrolling the general area of Gumsuri in search of the terrorists who attacked the community last weekend.
The blog post added, “Some of the villagers who fled during the attack have started returning to the village. Normal life has also returned to the area. The surveillance and patrol of the area by air and land forces has been stepped up to secure the general area.
“Troops have been ordered to sustain an aggressive patrol over the area and the surrounding communities in order to ensure that terrorists do not have any freedom of action in the area while the counter-terrorism campaign continues.” There have been widespread media reports mainly from foreign sources alleging that about 100 villages made up of housewives and young girls were kidnapped by the terrorists earlier this week.
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