The Defence Headquarters has confirmed the killing of 18 insurgents suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect in a shootout with troops in some settlements in Bama and Ngurosoye in Borno State.
The Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said in an electronic mail on Monday that the Special Forces also destroyed five pickup vehicles, seven gulf cars and one Toyota Hillux truck belonging to the group.
Olukolade said that the soldiers also found 16 burnt AK 47 assault rifles at the scene of the battle.
He said that the Special Forces encountered the insurgents while they were making moves to attack some communities in the area.
Olukolade said the Special Forces screened and released 75 villagers in a cordon and search operation that followed the gun battle with the insurgents.
However, the Defence spokesman said that the military had not been able to verify the reported attack on a market in the Bama area which resulted in the purported killing of 29 people.
“The purported bomb attack on a market in the vicinity as widely reported in the media is however yet to be verified,” he said.
Olukolade stated also that the troops also recovered 16 AK 47 rifles during cordon and search operation in some communities around Mandara mountains and Haraza hills.
He stated also that the Special Forces overran the insurgents in some camps in the outskirts of Gombole, Mele, Kecheri, Dufrfada, Yuwe, and other villages around Mandara mountains and Sambisa forests after fierce encounters.
He said that a soldier died and five others injured in the battle where several insurgents were said to have been killed.
Olukolade added that the Multi-National Joint Task Force had intensified its patrol of the banks of Lake Chad and surrounding communities in addition to an aerial surveillance operation put in place to smoke out terrorists from the area.
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