Boko Haram: Colonel, five soldiers, 53 terrorists killed in Borno attacks

Three weekend onslaughts by   terrorists have claimed the lives of an army Colonel, five other  soldiers, 10 policemen, three members of a vigilance group and 53  insurgents  in Borno State.
One of the policemen was a divisional police officer (DPO), according to sources.
Most of the casualties were recorded in Damboa Local Government Area of the state where terrorists were said to have stormed troops’ bases with   a view to ambushing them.

They were, however, repelled during which the Colonel, the five soldiers and 10 policemen lost their lives.
Fifty of the terrorists  involved in the operation were killed while a botched suicide mission at a checkpoint in Konduga in Borno State led to the death of the bomber, a policeman and three members of a vigilance group.
The insurgents fired on the military in Damboa with rocket-propelled grenades, Gideon Jubrin, police spokesman for Borno State, said.
He had no information on casualties.
Another security source said the raid was a revenge mission after dozens of Boko Haram militants were killed in an air and ground offensive on two of their camps in areas of Borno called Yejiwa and Alagarno.
The Director of Defence Information, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade, in a statement last night, confirmed the invasion by the insurgents saying only   that “a total of five soldiers and a senior officer were also killed while repelling the attack.”
He was silent on the identity of the senior officer.
Our correspondent, however, gathered that a Colonel was killed in the encounter.
The Colonel was said to have put up a gallant effort in coordinating the repel of the insurgents.
The DHQ said: “Over 50 terrorists died as troops repelled a daring attack on troops’ locations in Damboa, Borno State yesterday (Friday) night.
“The terrorists had stormed the troops’ bases and police locations while most of the troops were out on patrol of surrounding villages. A total of five soldiers and a senior officer were also killed while repelling the attack. A cordon and search of the locality is ongoing, while the bodies of the fallen soldiers have been recovered and deposited in the military morgue.  The wounded are also receiving treatment in the military medical facility.”
On the curtailment of insurgents in Baga and Konduga, Gen. Olukolade said  troops on patrol around Baga area  recovered explosives and rifles concealed in a truck loaded with fish and other commodities.
Four suspects were taken into custody in connection with the incident.
He added:”at Konduga also in Borno State, a suicide bomber in a Golf car yesterday (Friday) crashed into a checkpoint killing himself, a policeman and three Vigilante Youth members.”
A source, who declined to be named, said residents were observing Friday prayers at Konduga when the pick-up truck approached.
A local vigilante group stopped the truck to inspect it and the bomber then detonated the bomb a few metres away from the mosque, he said.
Witness Mohammadu Sheriff said he had seen the vigilantes conducting checks on a pick-up van carrying firewood.
“Suddenly it exploded,” he said. “It would have been more devastating if the bomber had succeeded in driving near the mosque, which had over a thousand people in it.”
On the same day, terrorists had laid ambush on the  Maiduguri- Mafa- Dikwa road killing about 15 passengers and motorists .