Three soldiers have been killed while 10 others sustained various degrees of injuries in an ambush on their convoy by the Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP) terrorist group, while repelling terrorists in Abadam local government area of Borno State.
It was gathered that the troops, who were part of clearance operation against the terror group comprising of Sector 3 and Sector 4 MultiNational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), came under attack on Sunday by a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED), while advancing towards ISWAP camp in Tunbum Reza.
An intelligence information obtained by Zagazola Makama, a Counter Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad region from top security sources, which was made available to LEADERSHIP, revealed that the joint troops effectively responded with superior firepower and successfully fought off the ambush.
The sources said that one of the VBIED hit an MRAP belonging to Nigérienne Republic troops of Sector 4 MNJTF while the other hit a Hilux truck.
The sources said that terrorists also suffered significant casualties, although the exact number was yet to be determined.
“This attack comes in less than 24 hours after the troops thwarted a similar attack in Arege resulting in the killing of 10 ISWAP terrorists and the destruction of their three vehicles.
“The ISWAP terrorists made an audacious attempt to infiltrate the advancing troops’ harbor using a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED), but was instantly naturalized,” he said.
The wounded personnel were evacuated for treatment.
The ongoing operation by troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) nicknamed Operation HARBIN ZUMA was designed to clear the terrorists’ hideouts and restore total sanity in the Lake Chad region
ISWAP on the other hand resorted to desperate but extreme measures to fight back against the intrusion of their enclaves by the military through heightenening series of PBIED, VBIED and RSBIED attacks.