The Nigerian military has said it had dealt a mortal damage to the Boko Haram insurgents in the latest attack on Gudumbali.
The insurgents who had always gained upper hand in the battle of Gudumbali in the past, according to a military source, met their Waterloo when they invaded the town on Friday evening.
The source said the military were well prepared for the onslaught and were able to disperse the insurgents.
The source said, “The troops repelled the attack in which two gun trucks of the insurgents were destroyed while one gun truck was recovered.”
He said the military was not taking chances, equally as it reinforced Gudumbali with soldiers from the Armed Forces Special Force already deployed in Damasak on Friday.
He said the ground force were assisted by the Nigerian Air Force jet which came at about 06:00 on Friday evening to bombard the fleeing insurgents trying to escape through Gashigar.
The source, who lamented that a soldier was lost in the attack, revealed that countless insurgents were killed by the military superior firepower.
The claim made by our source was confirmed by the military in a press release issued on Sunday.
The release by Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, the Deputy Director Public Relations of the military counter-insurgency operation (Operation Lafiya Dole) said, “Troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE located at Gudumbali in northern Borno State on Friday 15th December 2018, repelled an infiltration by suspected Boko Haram terrorists that came disguised as civilian Internally Displaced Persons and inserted themselves in the community.”
He said, “The terrorists took advantage of the ongoing distribution of relief materials by the Nigerian Army at Gudumbali and opened fire on troops location which was followed by rapid fire from other terrorists in gun trucks along Gudumbali-Kukawa axis. The trucks conveying the relief materials were set ablaze. However, the troops fought gallantly and outmanoeuvred the attackers and inflicted heavy casualties on them.
“Unfortunately, a soldier paid the supreme price during the encounter, while another was wounded in action. A Cobra Armoured Personnel Carrier and a truck belonging to the unit were damaged.”
Nwachukwu said, “Similarly, the troops have recovered bodies of some of the neutralised terrorists, large quantity of ammunition and eight rocket propelled grenades charges.
“The troops have since been reinforced and normalcy has been brought to the general area.” Punch
