180 Boko-haram Insurgents Killed By Camerounian Soldiers

A fierce gunfight launched by the fundamentalist
Islamist group, Boko Haram, against the Camerounian
soldiers has led to the killing of no fewer than 180
insurgents and two gendarmes around a Nigerian
border with Cameroun.
It was gathered that during the battle which took place
on Tuesday evening, many of the wounded insurgents
were also arrested.
About 200 rifles, 70 machine guns and heavy military
hardware were said to have been recovered from the
insurgents by the soldiers.
A reliable military source confirmed the development to
our correspondent shortly after the the Nigerian Army
in Kano State disclosed that it had foiled a plot to
bomb Kano during the forthcoming Sallah festival by
uncovering a bomb factory in Gezawa Local
Government Area.
It was gathered that the Camerounian authorities
directed the soldiers to launch the attack against the
Nigerian gunmen, who had earlier on Tuesday,
ambushed and killed two gendarmes on patrol in the
border community.
Our source said the soldiers, while pursuing the
insurgents, sent a signal to their Nigerian counterparts,
to be on the alert to avoid the escape of the fleeing
insurgents.
According to the source, the number of those killed,
the arrests and the recovered arms indicated that many
Boko Haram members, who were forced out of Nigeria
through military operations, had already “settled
comfortably” in Cameroun.
He said, “The Camerounian troops have been involved
in a serious confrontation with the insurgents. They
have killed over 180 of them.
“Almost 200 rifles and 70 machine guns were
recovered from them by Camerounian soldiers.
“What led to this operation was that the insurgents
killed two gendarmes on patrol around the border with
Nigeria on Tuesday. I think this angered them to order
a comprehensive raid of the hideouts of the insurgents.
“You can see from the casualty figure and the level of
seizures that they were already comfortable in that part
of Cameroun until this incident.
“Ironically, the Camerounians who had been reluctant
in spite of complaints by Nigeria at the diplomatic level
are the ones now reaching out to us to ensure that the
fleeing insurgents are not allowed to escape. So, I can
tell you that the heat is on them.”
It was also gathered that Nigerien soldiers in the
Multinational Joint Task Force killed an unspecified
number of Boko Haram members on some island
communities near Lake Chad on Sunday.
Investigations revealed that the Nigerien component of
the MNJTF went after the insurgents on learning of the
killing of one of them.
Our source said the intensified military action against
the insurgents had made the nation’s northern border
rather too hot for them.
When our correspondent contacted the Director of
Defence Information, Brig.-Gen Chris Olukolade, he
said, “Our neighbouring countries, either through the
instrumentality of the Multi National Joint Task Force or
through their security instruments, are involved in
operations to complement what we are doing against
terrorism.
“I am aware that the MNJTF and Nigerian security
agencies are combing everywhere for any strange
movement in our territory,” Olukolade said.
Also in Abuja on Wednesday, the Commander ‘3’
Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Brig. Gen Illiyasu Abba,
said that operatives raided a house in Gunduwawa,
Gezawa LGA and discovered a bomb factory.
He told journalists at a press briefing in Kano that
bomb making items recovered from the factory were
meant to carry out attacks in Kano during the Sallah
and other festivals this year.
A young man suspected to be a child of the owner of
the house rented out to the suspected terrorists was
shot dead.
Abba said, “At about 2 am on October 8, a combined
team of the JTF troops and Department of State Services
raided two Boko Haram terrorists’ hideouts at
Gunduwawa village in the Gezawa Local Government
Area.
“The raid, which was conducted following a lead on
intelligence reports, made no arrests as the terrorists
fled the village on the approach of the JTF troops and
DSS personnel.
“The weapons and other dangerous materials were
meant to wreak havoc on Kano during the Eid-el-Kabir
and other festivities before the end of the year.’’
He listed Improvised Explosive Devices, ‘two AK 58 with
193 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition, one AK 47
magazine with 107 rounds of 5.56 millimeter
ammunition, bows and arrows as some of the
recovered items.
Three primed cylinders of IEDs, one primed explosive
suicide back pack, 18 empty IED cylinders, 24
detonators, a small bag of fertiliser, IED timers cortex
wires, three remote control devices, five Motorola hand
held radios, four communicators, six alarm clocks, two
cartons of nine -volt batteries, a scale, one external
hard drive and one heavy duty charger/battery were
also recovered from the house.

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