Nigerian army kills 16 Boko Haram fighters
Tuesday July 31 2018
People walk past a telecom mast brought down by Boko Haram Islamists in Borno State, northeast Nigeria, on February 15, 2017. PHOTO | FLORIAN PLAUCHEUR | AFP
Nigerian army has killed 16 Boko Haram soldiers after an attack on a village in the northern state of Borno.
Boko Haram soldiers were on Friday reported to have attacked Mairari village in Monguno before soldiers deployed in area responded killing at least 16 extremists.
Col Onyema Nwachukwu, Deputy Director Army Public Relations, on Sunday said the troops intervened immediately following an alert from the locals.
“The troops supported by the Air Task Force swiftly responded to the attack, killing 16 insurgents and capturing two gun trucks abandoned by the insurgents,” said Col Nwachukwu.
The Army recovered two gun trucks and 163 rounds of ammunition from the fighters.
Four civilians and a soldier sustained injuries in the encounter.
Col Nwachukwu added that normalcy had been restored in the village and that additional troops have been deployed to the area.
Nigerian military has vowed to rid out the terror group.
Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, said the militias no longer pose any serious threat to the army or the citizens.
“There are just only few elements of them that are still moving about to show that they are still relevant...there’s no cause for alarm,” said Lt Gen Buratai.
The army chief commended Nigerian soldiers for their courage in the ongoing counter terrorism operations.
More than 25,000 people have died in the in the North East states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe since Boko Haram insurgency in 2009.