26, December 2018
Boko Haram kills 13 soldiers, a policeman in Nigeria 0
Boko Haram Takfiri terrorists ambushed a military convoy in northeastern Nigeria, killing 13 soldiers and a policeman, the army said Wednesday.
But an officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the militants had overrun an army base, and put the death toll at 18.
An army statement said the attackers ambushed a military convoy late Monday on a highway linking Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, with Damaturu in neighboring Yobe state.
“Sadly, 13 military and a police personnel… paid the supreme price while extricating themselves from the ambush,” said the statement, signed by local military spokesman Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu.
The attack followed an attempted raid on a nearby military base along the highway in Kukareta village, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Damaturu, Nwachukwu said.
That attack was “repelled” by troops who “engaged and overpowered the terrorists, killing several of them”, Nwachukwu said, adding that a soldier was injured.
Other security sources said fighters travelling in eight trucks fitted with anti-aircraft guns had overrun the base.
“The terrorists killed 17 soldiers in the attack, which lasted for more than an hour,” an officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“They took over the military base after overpowering troops and burnt it down. A policeman was killed when their vehicle which was heading to Damaturu ran into crossfire but the driver escaped unhurt,” the military source said.

A medic in Damaturu hospital said 18 bodies were taken to the morgue late Monday.
A civilian militiaman in the area gave a similar account and said the fighters withdrew after torching the base.
“They burnt the base and two military vehicles. They also burnt two primary schools in Kukareta and neighboring Ngaurawa village,” said the militiaman.
Boko Haram extremists have carried out dozens of attacks on military bases in recent months. Scores of soldiers have been killed or listed as missing.
The 120-kilometre (75-mile) Maiduguri-Damaturu highway has seen repeated attacks, including raids on military bases and markets.
In September 2013, Boko Haram fighters disguised as soldiers barricaded the highway and killed 167 people, in the worst attack targeting motorists.
The nine-year-long insurgency has killed 27,000 people and displaced two million more, creating a dire humanitarian crisis.
The conflict has spilled over into Nigeria’s northern neighbors Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
(Source: AFP)




















4, January 2019
Nigeria Helicopter Crashes While Fighting Extremists; 5 Dead 0
A Nigerian Air Force helicopter crashed in combat, killing five crew members, as fighting raged against extremists for control of the strategic town of Baga in the northeast, the military said Thursday.
The crash occurred Wednesday at Damasak in northern Borno state, according to a tweet by air force spokesman Ibikunle Daramola. Officials did not say what caused the crash.
The military has been fighting to regain control of Baga, which the extremists seized last week. The town is a key base for a multinational force fighting the extremists. Many residents have fled to the Borno state capital, Maiduguri.
The fighting for Baga has been intense, the chief of army training and operations, Maj. Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, told reporters. “It’s a ding-dong situation but we are engaging them,” he said last week. “We are not in total control but Boko Haram have not taken control of Baga, either.”
The base in Baga, close to the border with Chad, has weapons, ammunition and other equipment that are a key target for the extremists, who also overran the base in 2015.
The Islamic State West Africa Province, an offshoot of the decade-old Boko Haram extremist group and the largest IS-linked extremist group in Africa, claimed to kill or wound “dozens” of soldiers in the latest attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group that monitors extremist communiques.
Fifty-three police are missing, according to a senior police officer in Maiduguri, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Use of drones
Nigeria’s defense minister, Mannir Dan-Ali, on Wednesday reiterated the military’s commitment to ending Boko Haram’s insurgency. He spoke to the press while on his way to neighboring Chad to discuss extremist activity in border areas.
Nigeria’s government recently confirmed the extremists had begun using drones, calling it a “critical factor” in a rise in attacks against military bases. The military rarely announces death tolls, but the government in November acknowledged dozens of soldier deaths.
President Muhammadu Buhari at the time held an urgent meeting with member countries to “enhance the capacity” of the multinational force.
The nearly decade-old Boko Haram insurgency has been blamed for some 20,000 deaths and thousands of abductions. The unrest and displacement of millions of hungry people have turned northeastern Nigeria into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Source: AP