Maiduguri-Damboa road shut as troops engage Boko Haram in fierce shootout
The main highway connecting Maiduguri and Damboa has been closed as troops from Operation Hadin Kai engage in a fierce shootout with Boko Haram members.
According to reports, suspected members of the Boko Haram terrorist group Jam’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihd ambushed troops of Operation Hadin Kai escorting commercial vehicles from Maiduguri to Damboa in Falouja village in Borno State, northeast Nigeria.
A local source who escaped the attack told Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency expert and security analyst in Lake Chad, that the ambush forced the passengers in the convoy to flee for safety after a heavy exchange of gunfire between the terrorists and the soldiers.
The security source disclosed that the terrorists attacked the troops with a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG), before following it with a rapid gunfire.
The sources said that one soldier was killed after sustaining bullet wounds, while three others injured were evacuated to Damboa hospital for treatment.
“Despite the attack by the insurgents, the troops were able to safeguard all the passengers to their safe destination,” he said.
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