Troops of 119 Task Force Battalion, 8 Division Nigerian Army, deployed at Kangarwa, Kukawa Local Government Area of Northern Borno State, have yesterday neutralized 13 Boko Haram terrorists in a counter attack carried out by the troops.

Unfortunately, 1 soldier paid the supreme price during the encounter, while 3 soldiers were wounded in action.

The offensive which began at about 4.00pm and lasted for roughly four hours, necessitated the troops calling for air support to which the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) promptly responded by dispatching an Intelligence Surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft and a Ground Attack Fighter Aircraft in support of the ground offensive.

The fierce counter also saw some insurgents fleeing with gunshot wounds and abandoning logistics and weapons.

The troops also neutralized 2 Hilux vehicles belonging to the insurgents and recovered the following; a Hilux vehicle, 1 Browning Machine Gun (BMG), 1 Anti Aircraft Gun (AAG), 2 General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG), 1 Light Machine Gun (LMG), 2 Rocket Propelled Guns Seven (RPG 7) tubes and bombs, 5 AK-47 Rifles and 550 Rounds of Anti-Aircraft Gun ammunition.

The Nigerian Airforce was also part of the war yesterday as they repelled attack by the Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) on own ground troops at Kangarwa in northern Borno State. Following the report of the attack, 3 x fighter jets and a reconnaissance aircraft were immediately deployed for the operation. While the fighter aircraft were scrambled to repel the attack, the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft was deployed to give guidance to ground troops on the position equipment and strength of the BHTs. The operation which started at about 1700 hours (5pm) continued till late evening at about 1915 hours (7:15pm) before the attack was successfully repelled.

Before repelling the attack at Kangarwa, the NAF also conducted a number of day and night operations yesterday. The air interdiction missions were aimed at decimating the operational capability of the insurgents. The operations were carried out at Kashimeri, Tumbu Gini, chukugudu and other BHT strongholds from where the insurgents launch attack on Bama and neighboring settlements.