73 Insurgents Killed In Failed Boko Haram Konduga Attack

Abdullahi Umar, Agency Report, By CHIKA OTUCHIKERE, By Kareem Haruna — Mar 3, 2015 No fewer than 73 Boko Haram terrorists yesterday fell to the superior firepower of the Nigerian troops during a failed attempt by the insurgents’ bid to retake Konduga town in Borno State. One Nigerian soldier was reportedly killed in the attack which lasted over five hours, security sources said. The terrorists attempted to retake Konduga, a town 35km south-west of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, when they stormed the town with a herd of cows and a Volkswagen golf car filled with explosives. A soldier that participated in the Konduga counter-operation said the terrorists tried to carry out a suicide bomb attack after which they would attack the town from different angles, but a military sniper was able to gun down the driver of the explosives-laden car before he came close. “Even before they came we had a pre-information about them and we laid an ambush after securing our territory” said a top ranked officer who spoke to LEADERSHIP on phone. “Initially they flocked a herd of cows into Konduga in order to create some kind of diversion and confuse us to enable the suicide bomber attack from another side, but we were able to gun the vehicle from afar before it got near and the car exploded. After that, the terrorists came in their large numbers and we engaged in several hours of shooting with them.” The soldier said the terrorists, just like the previous attacks on Konduga, had again failed with many of them killed and several others seriously injured. “We counted about 73 of them that were killed and many others who got injured escaped. But we lost a soldier during the shootout,” he said. The soldier added that it took the support from the fighter jets of the Nigeria Air Force to defeat the terrorists who eventually gave up and fled at about 1pm. A top security chief in Maiduguri confirmed the incident, but was not forthcoming on the death toll given by the soldiers in the field. Konduga has repeatedly been attacked for over 15 times in the last 10 months as Boko Haram terrorists are bent on capturing the town as part of their strategy to launch an attack on Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, but they have been bloodied in each attempt. Soldiers on Patrol Soldiers liberate more towns in Yobe Meanwhile, Nigerian troops battling to recapture seized towns from Boko Haram insurgents ahead of the deadline for the general elections yesterday recorded more victories as they liberated three major towns in Yobe State, including Geri, Kukawa, Gujba. LEADERSHIP learnt that the rampaging troops combed the towns infested by the insurgents, determined to flush them out from their remaining hideouts. A Nigerian defence headquarters tweet yesterday said the troops were in hot pursuit of the insurgents. Fear grips Gombi residents as military drops expired bombs Residents of Gombi town in Gombi LGA, Adamawa State, were yesterday thrown into fear and confusion when a hovercraft in military colours were seen dropping bombs in the surrounding bushes. Residents of the area said they became suspicious of the said hovercraft as it kept encircling the town for a very long time which raised their suspicion. Shekau posts new video of two men beheaded for spying The latest video posted by the leader of outlawed Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, shows two beheaded men, who were accused of spying, a parody of the modus operadi Islamic State group. The SITE intelligence group said the video, called “Harvest of Spies,” was posted on the sect’s twitter handle, the group’s new media arm. According to it, the video is much slicker than previous ones, saying it borrows certain elements from IS productions, such as the sound of a beating heart and heavy breathing immediately before the execution. Boko Haram had said, in social media messages last month, that it was considering swearing allegiance to IS. Speaking before the execution, the two victims on their knees said that they went to Baga, Borno State to witness what was going there when the Boko Haram captured them. Other media reported that a man identified as Dawoud Muhammad of Baga town, in response to questions, said that a police officer paid him N5,000 to spy and promised to make him so rich he would never have to farm again. The video which was delivered in Hausa, written in English, French and Arabic, does not show the actual beheadings but the two bodies after the executions, with heads on the chests. Boko Haram previously published only one beheading of a pilot whose plane went missing in September. The Boko Haram began emulating the Islamic State group last August, declaring it had established an Islamic caliphate in territory it controls in north-eastern Nigeria. http://leadership.ng/news/414909/73-insurgents-killed-in-failed-boko-haram-konduga-attack