Suspected Boko Haram jihadists killed five Nigerian soldiers
and injured five others in a raid on a military post in the violence-torn
northeast, locals and a military officer said Tuesday.
“Our men were outgunned and outnumbered,” said a military
officer in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, who asked not to be named
because he was not authorised to speak about the incident.
Scores of fighters loyal to the Boko Haram faction headed by
Abu Musab Al-Barnawi late Monday stormed a checkpoint near Sabon Garin Kimba
village about 140 kilometres (90 miles) from Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko
Haram.
“We lost five men in the fight. Five more were injured,” the
military officer said.
The Islamic State group last year appointed Al-Barnawi as
head of Boko Haram, replacing long-time leader Abubakar Shekau.
Mustapha Karimbe, a civilian assisting the military, said
the jihadists took military vehicles and burned three armoured cars along with
makeshift sheds at the checkpoint.
“The terrorists attacked the soldiers… and remained in the
village for three hours before they withdrew,” said Karimbe.
This was the second attack on the same military checkpoint
in under a month.
Late last month, jihadists dressed in Nigerian military
uniforms attacked the checkpoint and forced soldiers to withdraw before looting
food and medical supplies from the village.
Boko Haram has in recent weeks intensified attacks on
military targets in the northeast.
The insurgency began in northeast Nigeria and has spread to
Chad, Cameroon and Niger, claiming more than 20,000 lives and displacing 2.6
million people.
AFP
