Following Friday’s announced ceasefire between the Federal Government and Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram, fierce fighting continues on the ground between the Nigerian military and militants.
One of the hots spots of fighting over the weekend was Damboa a Borno town 85 kilometers to the state’s capital, Maiduguri.
According to military sources, the terrorists staged a take-over of the deserted town Sunday, October 19, 2014 and met with stiff resistance from soldiers on the ground. Twenty five terrorists were killed in the “massive battle”.
According to the source, “military cannot just watch but engaged them in crossfire.”
“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,” the security official who does not wish to be named told newsmen. “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.”
Boko Haram was recently dislodged from the town in an aggressive offensive by the Nigerian military in its recent campaign. Damboa shares borders with the notorious Sambisa Forest where the terrorists are said to have a major camp.
Barely twenty-four hours after the ceasefire agreement was announced by Air Marshall Alex Badeh, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence staff, Boko Haram attacked a Borno village and killed 25 people leading to suggestions in the media that the sectionalisation of the terror group was responsible for the shaky start of what many have welcomed as a step towards peace.
A member of the local vigilante group named the Civilian JTF, Abba Mohammed confirmed the attempted invasion of Damboa by insurgents on Sunday.
“Some of our guys in Damboa had informed us early this morning that the attack was repelled and more than two dozens of the insurgents were killed,” he said. ”The gunmen came from the direction of Sambisa forest, drove in several pickup 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.”
