TheCable

Eighteen Boko Haram insurgents fell to Nigerian troops stationed at Rann, Kala Balge local government area of Borno on Friday, the Nigerian army has said.

Sani Kukasheka Usman, a colonel and acting director of army public relations, made this known in a statement released on Saturday.

The army spokesperson said the troops engaged the insurgents in a gun battle that “lasted for some hours” before successfully repelling them.

During the course of the fire exchange, a total of 16 insurgents were reported to have been killed while 2 soldiers lost their lives.

“The terrorists came with motorcycles borne improvised explosive devices (MCBIED), anti-aircraft guns and other weapons at about 5.00pm and the exchange of fire lasted for some hours before they were overwhelmed by the troops’ firepower.

“Unfortunately, one of the terrorists’ suicide bomber detonated himself at a gun truck, killing the driver and the gunner. The truck and the mounted weapon were also damaged beyond repairs. In addition, 2 soldiers were wounded in action while 3 others sustained minor injuries.

“The troops killed 7 of the attackers instantly while quite a number escaped with gun shot wounds. During clearance operations this morning, the troops discovered 9 more Boko Haram terrorists dead bodies in the surrounding areas. Therefore the total number of terrorists killed was 16.

“The troops also recovered a general purpose machine gun, rocket propelled grenade, ammunitions and captured 2 of the terrorists alive. The bodies of the 2 fallen heroes and the wounded in action soldiers have been evacuated to Maiduguri, while reinforcement was sent from Gomboru Ngala.”