Mon, 03/03/2014 - 11:13 Written by
For members of the Joint Military Taskforce operating in Maiduguri, Borno State, it was a busy weekend.
Just as rescue operations at the scene of Maiduguri’s twin bomb blasts where at least 52 persons lost their lives, progressed on Sunday, another set of Boko Haram insurgents wreaked havoc on Mainok,
a village about 50 kilometres from Maiduguri, Borno State.
Eyewitnesses said the insurgents ran through the village, burning houses and killing at least 39 residents. Witnesses said the insurgents were armed with guns and explosives. They were said to have
burnt literally all the houses in the village while shooting everyone in sight.
Eyewitness said the insurgents suddenly struck in the village shortly after soldiers moved to their base at Benisheik.
The Boko Haram members were said to be on a reprisal against members of the Volunteer Vigilance Group known as the civilian JTF for informing the military of their activities.
Sources said that the civilian JTF had foiled an earlier attack on Mainok by alerting the military. It was learnt that over 40 insurgents were killed last week by soldiers who laid ambush for them.
Col. Mohammed Dole, Spokesman for the 7 Infantry Division of the Nigerian Army, confirmed the killing of the over 40 insurgents. In the course of the same operations, the Special Forces were said
to have seized two Toyota Hilux jeeps, three motorcycles and arrested two of the insurgents suspected to have planted the twin bombs that rocked Maiduguri on Saturday.
Sources said that the two insurgents were arrested at the busy Post Office area of Maiduguri in a pick-up van laden with Improvised Explosive Devices. Two AK 47 assault rifles were also seized from
the van. The source said that the two suspects and the seized weapons were taken to the headquarters of Sector 4 of the JTF in Maiduguri.
Within the same period, insurgents attacked the Mafa Local Government Area headquarters and were locked in a fierce gun battle with soldiers. In the ensuing confrontation, the insurgents managed to
set some houses ablaze but there were no casualty figures yet.
In another development, another major disaster was averted on Sunday as eight suspected insurgents were arrested at the popular Maiduguri Monday Market. Four of the insurgents, who were dressed
in military uniform were first apprehended while attempting to gain entry into the market. In the course of interrogations, they confessed that four of their colleagues had earlier gained entry into the
market and were only waiting for them to come before shooting at people at random.
source: tellng.com
No comments:
Post a Comment