About 70 soldiers, including a major and three officers,
have been killed in an ambush by suspected Boko Haram insurgents, military
sources have revealed.
The troops, on operation Ayiso Tamonuma, had first advanced
to Alagarno area in Borno state on Saturday through Sunday, and though they ran
into an ambush, no soldier was killed.
On Monday, again, the troops ran into a second ambush as
they moved into Goniri area in Yobe and this time were overpowered by the
insurgents who “wiped out the entire artillery troop”.
“The Boko Haram insurgents attacked the rear convoy where
the multi barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) and sinotruk (yellow bucket) loaded with
soldiers were positioned,” a source said.
“Boko Haram utilised their rocket propelled grenade ( RPG)
fire and other support weapons on the vehicles and inflicted heavy casualties
on the troops, wiping out the entire artillery troop.
“The full details of the casualties can’t be ascertained
now. However, according to our contacts, it was confirmed that at least over 50
soldiers were killed and some of the KIA (killed in action), were burnt beyond
recognition. Details of the names of the KIA is not known yet as it was
difficult to identify the corpses.”
The major who was killed served as second in command at one
of the battalions in the north-east. Sources said a flight lieutenant of the
air force was also killed in the attack.
Those wounded have since been evacuated to Damaturu and
Maiduguri.
Sagir Musa, army spokesperson, was not reachable to comment
on the attack.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com