The Nigerian Army on Sunday said its troops had killed eight Boko Haram insurgents in a fresh encounter with the terrorists in Baga, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno.
Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, in a statement in Maiduguri, disclosed that troops of the Special Forces command on Saturday repelled the insurgents’ attack and inflicted heavy casualty of men and equipment on the terrorists.
Nwachukwu said that the troops successfully neutralized five insurgents in two mounted Gun Trucks, a suicide bomber and two other terrorists on an Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs) borne vehicle.
He said the combined Special Forces troops of the Nigerian Army, Navy and the Air Force operating under the auspices of ‘Operation Lafiya Dole’ inflicted devastating man and equipment casualty on Boko Haram terrorists on Saturday.
“The terrorists; armed with two Gun trucks, a vehicle laden with IED and a suicide bomber, met their waterloo while frantically fighting to break into the formidable defensive position of the troops.
“The gallant troops responded swiftly in a fierce counter offensive, unleashing superior and overwhelming firepower on the terrorists, neutralising five of them, including a driver and a gunner firing from a gun truck,“he said.
Nwachukwu added that the gallant troops destroyed one gun truck and an IED-carrying vehicle and also recovered one Anti Aircraft Gun and three AK-47 Rifles.
He said that the troops were in high spirit and continued pursuit of the terrorists who fled the scene of the encounter.
The army spokesman recalled that the Special Forces had in the past few days, dealt a deadly blow on the terrorists in a battle in which the terrorists attempted to contest the control of Baga town