Suicide Bomber Kills Five Troops In NE Nigeria
Local Editor
At least five soldiers were killed and another 40 injured when a Boko Haram extremist rammed an explosives-laden pick-up truck into a military convoy in northeast Nigeria, security sources told AFP Friday.
The bomber, believed to be loyal to factional leader Abu Mus'ab Al-Barnawi, targeted the convoy, which was conducting "clearance operations" between Yobe and Borno states, two military officers said.
"At about 11:00 Thursday, a suicide bomber believed to be a Boko Haram terrorist riding in a van loaded with explosives rammed into a military convoy at Manguzum village," one said.
"We lost five soldiers in the incident and more than 40 sustained various degrees of injuries," added the officer, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak about the incident.
The convoy was heading to the garrison town of Damboa, which is some 90 kilometers from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, at the time.
A second military source said the troops were heading into Borno when the extremist crashed his vehicle into a tank.
"The armored tank was seriously damaged and the operation slowed down," he added.
There has been a spate of deadly attacks on military targets in recent months, as troops fight to end the eight-year insurgency, which has left at least 20,000 dead in Nigeria alone.
The conflict has also spilled into neighboring countries Cameroon, Chad and Niger, making more than two million homeless.
Most of the recent attacks are suspected to have been carried out by the Al-Barnawi faction, which is backed by Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the Takfiri ‘ISIS/ISIL' group].
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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