Soldiers, Boko Haram clash again in Borno

Posted by admin Armed Forces, Boko Haram, Borno, Latest Politics, State News Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

The Military-led Joint Task Force (JTF) in Borno has killed another Boko Haram sect member barely a week after it gunned down 11 suspected members of the sect during an attack in Maiduguri, the state capital.

Daily Sun gathered that some sect members had attacked the task force outpost located around the London Chiki in the metropolis on Sunday night, a development which reportedly led to exchange of gunshots. A suspected member of the sect was said to have been killed in the gun battle that lasted about 30 minutes.

JTF spokesman, Lt Col Hassan Ifijeh Mohammed who confirmed the incident disclosed that the suspected Boko Haram men had opened fire on the troops posted to London Chiki in the metropolis to restore order but “were overpowered by the vigilance and courage of our men,” adding the JTF troop killed one of the attackers.

Lt. Col Mohammed urged those he said were harbouring the sect members to turn them over to the security agencies in the state in their own interest. He also warned that the task force would treat anybody caught harbouring the Boko Haram men in residential areas, shops or business premises as accomplice.
He said the JTF would continue its search operations within the metropolis and affected areas to fish out the perpetrators of serial killings in the area.

Meanwhile, anxiety gripped residents of Jidari and Polo in Maiduguri yesterday afternoon following sporadic gun shots witnessed in the area. A resident of the area claimed some gunmen suspected to be of Boko Haram had sneaked into the area at about 3.30pm and attacked a JTF sector unit.
“I can’t actually tell you how they got to the area or by what means but we started hearing gun shots at about 3.30pm and everybody had to run. You know no one will wait to ask what happened in that kind of situation as one will first think of safety. I later found out that some Boko Haram men shot at the soldiers,” the resident who wanted anonymity told Daily Sun.

It was gathered that one of the soldiers was injured during the attack though this could not be confirmed by the JTF as at the time of filing this report yesterday evening. Neither the JTF spokesman, Lt Col Mohammed nor its Field Operations Officer, Col Victor Ebhaleme picked the reporter’s calls.

-Sunwp_posts