In their avowed resolve to protect the lives and property of our citizens in Northern Borno, the troops of Sector 3 Operation LAFIYA DOLE thwarted the heinous attempt by Boko Haram and ISWAP criminal elements to overrun the peaceful town of Mongonu to unleash mayhem on the law-abiding citizens of the community.
The encounter which took place yesterday, 13 June 2020 ended with the gallant troops dealing a devastating blow on the insurgents and capturing or destroying most of their equipment.
The criminal insurgents attempted to lay siege on the community as well as the troops’ location with a number of gun trucks and foot soldiers but in a swift reaction, the gallant troops mobilized, enveloped and choked the criminals with superior fire power, forcing them to withdraw in dissaray amidst heavy casualty on both their men and equipment.
The unrelenting troops immediately pursued the criminals along their withdrawal route in order to further exploit the huge initial success recorded. During the exploitation exercise, the troops recovered 41 bodies of the insurgents while many more are believed to have escaped with serious injuries.
Additionally, the gallant troops captured 10 AK 47 Rifles, 2 Rocket Propelled Gun 7 tubes, 8 Rocket propelled Gun 7 bombs, one General Purpose Machine Gun, 2 PKT Machine Guns, one Dane gun, one SPG 9 Gun and one Dushka Machine Gun.
Others items captured from the criminal insurgents include 2 Anti- Aircraft Guns, one Anti-Aircraft Gun barrel, 4 SPG 9 bombs, one Hand Grenade, one Tool Box, 2 transistor radios, 49 rounds of Anti-Aircraft Gun ammuntion, 386 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition and 7 Gun Trucks from the defeated Boko Haram criminals.
Regrettably, 2 gallant soldiers paid the supreme prize while 3 others were wounded in action. The Wounded In Action soldiers have been evacuated to a military medical facility and are positively responding to treatment.
The Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai commended the troops for their resilience and patriotism in crushing the remnants of Boko Haram/Islamic State’s West Africa Province criminals and urged them to maintain the tempo against the criminals as they approach the end of insurgency in the country.
