Not less than 30 Boko Haram members have been reported killed in a clash with troops in a village near Lake Chad and the Nigerian border.
The incident, which was said to have occurred on Monday also resulted in the death of five soldiers from the republic of Niger. The fighting reportedly started after the army fell into an ambush, leaving six soldiers injured, with two of the militants captured.
Residents say the insurgents were trying to prevent people from praying during the Islamic festival of Eid-el-Kabir. A military operation by the Multi-National Task Force involving Nigeria, Chad, the Republic of Niger and Cameroon has been fighting the militants in the Lake Chad area where they plan to establish a base.
The Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services had issued an alert, warning that members of the Boko Haram terrorist group were planning attacks on places of worship during the Eid celebration. During the festive period, the Chief of Air Staff in Nigeria, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, visited troops in Nigeria’s northeast and urged them to sustain the tempo of the fight against the insurgents that have terrorized communities in the region in the last six years.
He was optimistic that a sustained tempo would reduce the activities of the Boko Haram terrorists in the region that has seen relative peace in the last few months, due to heightened counter-terrorism operations.
