Fifty three terrorists were killed in the recent gun battle between the Nigerian military and the Boko Haram terrorist group in Maiduguri and Konduga on Saturday, PRNigeria, a platform that circulates press releases for Nigeria’s security agencies, has said.
The agency said most of the terrorists were killed in a continued coordinated ground and air mop-up operations by the Nigerian military.
“Security sources confirmed that at least 53 more terrorists lost their lives to troops in pursuit of terrorists,” it said.
The agency said that emergency and health workers are having a hard time evacuating bodies from the location.
The dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group, late Saturday, launched three attacks on three largest towns in Borno state.
Nigerian soldiers faced the terrorists in the three separate attacks; were successful in two of the towns while the other town, Monguno, fell to the group.
The Defence Headquarters had on its official twitter page said ground troops patrol and air surveillance operation were ongoing to retake the town.
“More casualties inflicted on terrorists as troops battled fleeing ones and reinforcement at outskirts of #Maiduguri, #Konduga last night,” the agency further quoted the Defence Headquarters as saying. “Substantial amounts of heavy weapons have been captured, as more terrorists died in the fight which lasted till early Monday morning.”
The military also reportedly said it recorded casualties among its troops.
The Brigade commander of the 5 brigade was said to have been injured alongside other soldiers during Saturday’s attack.
Diversionary tactics
PRNigeria says a source informed it that the attack on Maiduguri and Konduga might have been staged to divert troops’ attention from commencing the “once and for all” battle against the terrorists by members of the Multinational Joint Task Force from Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad planned for early this week.
It said that there are fears that saboteurs among local sympathizers in one of the affected communities might have betrayed the troops, especially concerning the plans to annihilate terrorists to allow for a peaceful conduct of the forthcoming elections in every part of the country.
photo credit: premium times
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