Troops Tuesday foiled multiple terrorists’ attacks targeted at soldiers and some Muslim faithful during the breaking of Ramadan fasting at Gajiram and Damasak in Borno state.
In the counter-terrorism operation last night, effective close air support was provided by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft to ground troops at Damasak and Gajiram after coming under fire by ISWAP/Boko Haram terrorists.
A military intelligence source said the terrorists were on a reprisal mission to avenge the loss of their 13 eminent Commanders killed by troops in the Lake Chad axis last week.
“The terrorists deliberately targeted their reprisal on troops and residents of the two towns in the evening at the time Muslim faithful were about to break their fasting on the first day this year’s Ramadan.
“They were angry over the recent deadly strikes conducted in Tudun Wulgo, Zari, Tumbun Alhaji, Kusuma, Sigir in Ngala and Arijallamari, in Abadam, Marte and Ngala local government areas resulting in the killing of top ISWAP Leaders.
“Some of the Commanders that perished in the airstrikes included; Mohammad Fulloja, Ameer Mallam Bello, Ba’a kaka Tunkushe, Abu Muktar Al-Ansari, Ameer Abba Kaka, Abu Huzaifa, Ameer Modu Kwayem, while Goni Mustapha who was the Chief Imam of the ISWAP, escaped with bullet wounds,” the source said.
Before storming the two communities, the terrorists met at Garin Wanzam, where the new ISWAP Commander in charge of training, Moustapah Goniri (Amirul Tadareify), directed militants on gun trucks to launch simultaneous attacks in Damasak and Gajiram in Mobbar and Nganzai local government areas respectively.
PRNigeria gathered that two separate attacks were designed to distract the Air Task Force aggressor with night capability that would be deployed for air attack.
One of the groups attacked a military “Super Camp”, prompting troops to return fire. The second group attacked another position along the Maiduguri road axis, prompting troops to vacate the position, while the third group infiltrated it through the northern axis.
Consequently, before the militants could completely gain access into the town, the Air Task Force was reinforced to engage the terrorists. Two-gun trucks with scores of terrorists were destroyed and occupants killed.
The terrorists’ incursion at Gajiram was gallantly repelled by the ground troops.
He said, “right now, bodies of the terrorists are littered all over the place. The insurgents are in total disarray and could not evacuate their dead colleagues.”
‘Propaganda video’
Meanwhile, the terrorist group has released a propaganda video of a previous attacks on Damasak where they took away an ambulance, a jeep and killed two young soldiers that had arrested a Boko Haram’s informant.
During the attack on April 11, the Nigerian Military shelled and eliminated scores of ISWAP and Boko Haram fighters on five-gun trucks in Damasak. Some of the terrorists were hit close to the perimeter fencing, while others were neutralized while attempting to loot food items in a store belonging to the United Nations (UN).
Also, the military’s airstrikes and ground artillery bombardments which occurred April 6, eliminated two top ISWAP leaders. Including Abu-Rabi and Muhammed Likita, as well as scores of their troops and bodyguards around the axis of Kusuma, Sigir in Ngala and Arijallamari in Abadam local government areas.
Similarly, on April 10, three other terrorists-Commanders including Ameer Umar, Abu Ubaida and Abu Salim were ambushed and killed by Nigerian forces on Saturday night around Wulgo/Logomani axis, close to Cameroon borders, while attempting to attack locals and rustle their cows.
Damaging strikes and artillery bombardment on the ISWAP camps had pushed the surviving terrorists to conduct desperate attacks on a looting mission to get food and drugs for their wounded terrorists. PRNigeria
