20 terrorists killed in Borno – DHQ

Troops of the Nigerian Armed Forces clashed on Wednesday  with  Boko Haram insurgents who attempted to launch fresh attacks on Mafa and Ajiri in Borno State.

 Twenty of the insurgents were said to have been killed while some soldiers were  injured during the encounters in the two communities.

The Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen Chris Olukolade, made this known in an electronic  statement on Thursday just as seven travellers  were massacred by gunmen believed to be Boko Haram   members at Wala ‘A,’  Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.

Olukolade also  said in  his  statement  that different calibre of machine guns and improvised explosive devices  were recovered from the terrorists.

He added that the troops  succeeded in clearing  an ambush with which the insurgents  had  intended to  wreak  havoc on the neighbouring communities.

Our correspondent  learnt that  some soldiers  were  on their way to   confront the Boko Haram members at Mafa  when they ran into the  ambush around  8pm on Wednesday.

It was learnt  that the soldiers retreated and  later stormed the camps of the insurgents  with reinforcement from the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri.

Olukolade  said many  camps in Borno and Adamawa  states were destroyed in the encounters between the insurgents and the  troops.

He said, “Attempts by terrorists to attack Ajiri and Mafa as well as other communities on  the outskirts of Maiduguri and Dikwa in Borno State towards the Cameroon borders, yesterday(Wednesday) were foiled by the security forces.

“The ambush mounted by the terrorists to enable them to unleash terror on the communities unchallenged, was also cleared by troops on reinforcement mission.

“Arms captured from the terrorists include various brands of machine guns and improvised explosive devices.

“Twenty insurgents died in the encounter, while our troops sustained varying degree of injuries.

“Also, more camps were destroyed yesterday (Wednesday) in encounters at various forests and mountains in Adamawa and Borno states.”

Olukolade  also  said that the DHQ had observed with serious concern,  remarks by highly placed persons in government and   commentators on the ongoing campaign by the military to root out insurgents  from  the North-East.

Such people, according to him,  have  been creating the wrong impression about the state of troops in the ongoing operations.

He described as “unfortunate,” the  plot by such people  to demoralise the troops with a view to creating the impression that  soldiers were being defeated by the insurgents.

Source: Punch