*12 soldiers, 4 civilian JTF wounded
•Arrests wanted terrorist kingpin, kill many others
Senator Iroegbu in Abuja
Nigerian troops engaged in the ongoing Operation Crackdown in the North East have repelled Boko Haram attacks inside Sambisa forest and arrested another terrorist kingpin.
The Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Col. Sani Usman, disclosed that the troops of 21 Brigade and a rugged team of Armed Forces Special Forces (AFSF) while on harbour inside the infamous forest for refitting, came unde terrorists’ attack about 1.45am on Saturday.
However, Usman said, the gallant troops successfully repelled the attack.
“They further followed up with mopping up operations of the general area before advancing. They also recovered two corpses of the attackers and the following items; two AK-47 rifles, two Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) bombs, five rifle magazines, mortar bombs and a belts of Machine Gun rounds.
“Unfortunately, five soldiers were wounded in action (WIA), as a result of mortar fired into the harbour area by the Boko Haram terrorists. The wounded soldiers have been evacuated to the rear for treatment,” he stated.
Despite this incident, the DAPR assured that “the morale of the gallant troops remains very high as they are determined to successfully clear Boko Haram terrorists”.
In a related development, Usman said that the troops have arrested one of the declared wanted Boko Haram terrorists leaders, and also conducted patrols and clearance operations within the theatre of operations.
According to him, the troops of 143 Battalion, at about 1.35pm on Friday, arrested one Sulaiman Umaru, a suspected Boko Haram terrorists group member whose photograph is on the poster containing the photographs of the 100 Boko Haram terrorists declared wanted.
He said that the suspect has since been moved to 28 Task Force Brigade Headquarters for further investigation.
Also, the Army Spokesman said that the troops of 21 Brigade have continued with the clearance operations at Yerimari, while troops of 22 Task Force Brigade Garrison have also embarked on patrols along Dikwa–Mafa-Maiduguri road.
The patrol, he noted, was aimed at picketing the road to keep it safe and open.
Similarly, he said, the same unit in conjunction with some elements of 112 Task Force Battalion conducted a fighting patrol along Dikwa-Gulumba Gana road.
He revealed that the team had a fierce fire fight with some Boko Haram elements in which the troops killed quite a number of the Boko Haram terrorists.
FURTHER DETAILS LATER
