Insecurity: Military confirms officer, 6 soldiers killed in Borno

The army has confirmed the killing of one of its officers and six soldiers by terrorists at Mainok, Borno State.

It was learnt that the soldiers came under heavy attack by Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists who invaded the town with several gun trucks and foot soldiers.   

Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Yerima, in a statement, yesterday, confirmed the attack.

He, however, said scores of the terrorists were killed by the army who fought back to repel them.

Said Yerima: “The terrorists were held by the gallant troops of 156 Task Force Battalion until the arrival of reinforcement teams from 7 Division, Special Army Super Camp Ngamdu and Army Super Camp 4, Benesheik.

“During the fire fight which lasted several hours, gallant troops tactically lured a number of the terrorists into a killing zone within their camp where the Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole scrambled Alpha jets and helicopter gunboats which took turns in decimating the already trapped terrorists.

In the aftermath of the encounter, scores of Boko Haram terrorists were neutralised with their body part littering the area and a number of their gun trucks destroyed.

“Regrettably, one gallant officer and six soldiers paid the supreme sacrifice, while five other soldiers sustained various degrees of injuries. The wounded soldiers have already been evacuated to the military medical facility for treatment. Currently, troops are in full control of Mainok and environ as exploitation for fleeing terrorists is ongoing.”

He said Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru applauded troops of Operation Lafiya Dole for their resilience, commitment and doggedness and further

He urged citizens to always avail troops with accurate and timely information for prompt action.

However, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) yesterday said it has commenced investigation into the alleged air bombardment of troops location at Mainok village about 55 kilometres to Maiduguri by one of its fighter jet over the weekend.

It was learnt that service chiefs were forced to hold an emergency meeting yesterday with operational commanders and top officers to unravel the cause of the attack.

Over 20 soldiers were said to have been killed in the attack which threw the entire armed forces into mourning mood and was the talk of the day when Daily Sun visited Defence, Army, Navy and Air Force headquarters, yesterday.

A source said the air force was disturbed by pictures of the outcome of the attack which went viral on social media, yesterday.

“We woke up this morning and saw tweets flying all over the place that our aircraft killed dozens of soldiers; they might have misfired or fired wrongly on troops location. So we have sent all those details to the Joint Task Force, Air Component Command for them to put everything together, check and ascertain what really happened.

“If it happened that our aircraft may have misfired, we have to say it but the most important thing is that we have to be sure of what really transpired before we come out with something,” said the source who preferred to remain anonymous.

In its twitter handle, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, said investigations had been launched into the accident.

“The attention of the @NigAirForce has been drawn to reports alleging ‘How NAF killed over 20 Nigerian army personnel by accident in air strike’ at Mainok which is about 55km to Maiduguri. NAF wishes to state that visuals and reports being circulated are currently being investigated and the general public will be duly updated on the alleged incident. All inquiries should please be directed to the Office of the Director of Public Relations and Information, Headquarters Nigerian Air Force.”