Another soldier dies but troops ‘wipe out 13 insurgents’

The Nigeria army says it troops have killed 13 Boko Haram insurgents in a counter attack at Kangarwa, Borno state.

Sani Usman, army spokesman, who disclosed this in a statement, said one soldier was killed in the encounter, while three other soldiers were wounded.

He said the troops recovered heavy weapons from the insurgents.

The offensive is coming a few days after the insurgents killed Muhammad Abu Ali, Nigeria’s war hero,  and six other soldiers at Mallam Fatori in Borno.

“Troops of 119 Task Force Battalion, 8 Division Nigerian army,  deployed at Kangarwa, Kukawa Local Government Area of Northern Borno state, have yesterday neutralised 13 Boko Haram terrorists in a counter attack carried out by the troops,” he said.

“Unfortunately, one soldier paid the supreme price during the encounter, while three soldiers were wounded in action.‎

“The offensive which began at about 4.00pm and lasted for roughly four hours, necessitated the troops calling for air support to which the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) promptly responded by dispatching an Intelligence Surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft and a Ground Attack Fighter Aircraft in support of the ground offensive.

“The fierce counter also saw some insurgents fleeing with gunshot wounds and abandoning logistics and weapons.

“The troops also neutralised two Hilux vehicles belonging to the insurgents and recovered the following; a Hilux vehicle, one Browning Machine Gun (BMG), one Anti Aircraft Gun (AAG), two General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG), 1 Light Machine Gun (LMG), two Rocket Propelled Guns Seven (RPG 7) tubes and bombs, five AK-47 Rifles and 550 Rounds of Anti-Aircraft Gun ammunition‎.”