Military authorities in Nigeria have confirmed the death of 22 troops during one of their operations in the North-East region of the country.
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said the incident came during a clearance operation at a renowned terrorist stronghold and enclave known as Timbuktu Triangle.
“Overall, during the course of the operations, troops sadly recorded 22 killed in action casualties with several others wounded in action,” the Director of Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, said in a statement on Sunday.
According to him, the three-prong operation was aimed at dismantling the terrorist presence with a triangle and began on 16 January 25 till date.
Buba, however, said the troops killed over 70 terrorists including some of their commanders during the operations.
“Troops recorded several encounters with terrorists during the course of the clearance operations which resulted in over 70 terrorists combatants including 3 notable terrorist commanders neutralized. The terrorist commanders neutralised include and are not limited to the following: TALHA (Terrorist Special Forces Commander), Mallam UMAR (Terrorist Operations Commander), and ABU YAZEED (Terrorist Brigade Commander),” he said.
The DHQ said the success was despite the terrorists deploying Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), Person Bourne Improvised Explosive Devices (suicide bombers) as well as Vehicle Bourne Improvised Explosive Devices (suicide bombers in explosive vehicles) to ward off troops advance and attacks”.
“Troops already familiar with the terrorist tactics thwarted several terrorist attempts, including shooting down the amateur drones used by the terrorist,” the DHQ said.
In July, seven troops were killed when their vehicle hit a landmine in a village where the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) is active.
The 15-year-old conflict has killed 40,000 and displaced around two million from their homes in the northeast.
The violence spilled into neighbouring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, leading to the creation of a regional force to fight the militants.
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