BEVERLY HILLS, October 20, (THEWILL) – Further evidence that the ceasefire between the military and the Boko Haram group has crumbled manifested on Sunday as the bid by the insurgents to retake Damboa, Borno State, suffered a deadly blow as the Nigerian military confronted the terrorists Sunday night, killing 25 insurgents in a battle that lasted few hours.
Damboa is 85km away from Maiduguri, the state capital and also shares borders with the notorious Sambisa forest where Boko Haram has its largest training camp.
Damboa had been captured by the insurgents on July 17 and Boko Haram flags were hoisted in the town . They were however chased out after a deadly gun battle in which several soldiers and a Lieutenant Colonel were killed.
Speaking to journalists on Monday, a military source, craving anonymity, said the Boko Haram gunmen attempted to retake the town and the “military cannot just watch but engaged them in crossfire.”
The confrontation came few days after the Federal Government announced a ceasefire with the insurgents, who have however violated the agreement with their attacks on some Borno and Adamawa villages weekend.
A local vigilante group member, Abba Mohammed, said the insurgents invaded the already deserted Damboa at about 5pm on Sunday , disclosing that some of the vigilante members stationed in Damboa called in to tell them that there was an attack on the town.
According to Mohammed , “Some of our guys in Damboa had informed us early this morning that the attack was repelled and more than two dozen of the insurgents were killed.”
Local sources said: “The gunmen came from the direction of Sambisa forest, drove in several pick-up vans and some military-like armoured personnel carriers.”
“They engaged the military in massive shootouts for few hours where not less than 25 of them were killed, and they had to pull back towards the direction they came from.”
Another security operative, craving anonymity confirmed the incident, telling THEWILL that “There was an attack on Damboa on Sunday evening but the soldiers were able to effectively repelled them and killed 25 of them during the heavy shootout.”
According to the operative, “The soldiers were able to recover several ammunition including a Buffalo Armoured Personnel Carrier which the terrorists had to abandon in the heat of the confrontation.”
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