Army kills 13 Boko Haram terrorists, as NAF destroys insurgents’ gun trucks in Borno

The Nigerian Army on Friday said that a combination of troops of Sector 3 Operation LAFIYA DOLE and Sector 2 Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) of Chadian forces killed 13 more terrorists.

The Nigerian Army Operations media coordinator, Col. Aminu Iliyasu, who stated this in a statement in Abuja, said the terrorists were killed on Thursday at Duguri Island in the extreme of Northern Borno.

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Friday also claimed that its Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE destroyed two Boko Haram terrorists’ gun trucks and killed some fighters at Borgozo in Borno.

The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.

According to him, the feats were achieved when NAF jets and a helicopter gunship were scrambled to provide close air support to ground troops as they repelled the terrorists’ attack on the location.

The statement read: “The aircraft, upon arrival overhead the target area, tracked and engaged three of the BHT gun trucks that were involved in the attack.

“The BHTs moved the vehicles under some trees, while some of the fighters alighted the vehicles and attempted to escape into the surrounding bushes.

“The attack aircraft engaged them, scoring accurate hits on two vehicles, which were seen engulfed in flames, and neutralising some of the fleeing terrorists.”

In a related development, Iliyasu said the Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists mounted four Gun Trucks with the intention of overrunning the troops’ harbour position from the rear.

He said the troops also captured three Gun Trucks, three Anti Aircraft Guns, 12 AK 47 Rifles, three Bandoliers of Anti Aircraft Guns and 270 Rounds of 7.62 mm Special ammunition among other critical assets from the terrorists.

He, meanwhile, said that four members of troops were wounded during the encounter and that two of the wounded soldiers were already stabilized and in a nearby military medical facility while the other two were awaiting air evacuation for further medical management.

Iliyasu said, “The resilient troops, supported by the Air Task Force OPERATION LAFIYA DOLE, while marching against extreme odds posed by marshy flooded terrain to clear NJARWA and DUGURU villages made contact with the criminals who were hibernating in the area.

“The troops, having successfully cleared both villages, took up a harbour position at which remnants of the criminal ISWAP terrorists decided to cowardly attack them from their rear.

READ ALSO: Air Force claims 30 Boko Haram fighters killed in raid

“The dogged troops immediately responded with superior firepower, outmaneuvered the criminal insurgents and handed them a well deserved defeat in the process.”

The army spokesman had also in a statement on Wednesday, said that troops killed seven Boko Haram terrorists and recovered assorted weapons and ammunition from them in Borgozo, Kaga Local Government Area and Banki in the Bama Local Government Area of Borno State.

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