Photos: Army gives Boko Haram another bloody nose

The Nigerian troops of the 222 Battalion have dealt another deadly blow to Boko Haram terrorists after foiling an ambush laid by the group  along the Maiduguri-Bama axis.

The troops of the 21 Brigade were on a clearance patrol, in support of Operation Rainbow,  when they ran into the ambush on Sunday morning.

“There was serious exchange of gunfire,” reported the Nigerian Army on its Twitter handle.

” The gallant troops of 222 battalion were reportedly high on morale as a result of the just concluded assurance visit to the theatre of operation by the COAS Lt Gen TY Buratai  they successfully cleared the ambush.

“As a result, 1  GPMG(General Purpose Machine Gun) and 2  AK 47 and several rounds of ammunition belonging to the terrorists were recovered.

“As at the time of filing this report, troops were still exploiting the general areas in search of some BHT’s who escaped with gunshot wounds”.

The terrorists have been on the back foot since Buratai visited the frontlines and the reverses suffered may explain why they killed Saifura Ahmed, a  health worker, with the Red Cross  and also threatened to kill Leah Sharibu, a student of Dapchi Girls Secondary School, who they held hostage since March.

Last week Thursday,  at least seven Boko Haram fighters were killed by Nigerian troops in Damasak, spokesman Brig. Texas Chukwu said.

Chukwu, who said the terrorists came to attack the military formation at 6pm were outmatched by the superior firepower of Nigerian soldiers.

“The troops engaged and subdued the terrorists following a superior fire power of troops in DAMASAK.

“The troops aggressive posture, tactics and marksmanship resulted in neutralising many Boko Haram terrorists, ” he said.

On 14 September, the Nigerian Air Force, working in concert with the army tracked and destroyed some Boko Haram Terrorists (BHT) and four  vehicles as they were attempting to launch fresh attacks on ground troops locations at Gudumbali and Damasak in Borno.

Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information said  the mission was initiated following intelligence reports indicating that a convoy of BHT vehicles had been sighted within the Damasak – Gudumbali Axis.