Nigerian troops have neutralised an unspecified number of terrorists following a bloody attack on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Azir in Borno State.
It was gathered that the attack was carried out on Friday morning when daredevil terrorists invaded the area with dangerous weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), machine guns, among others.
The Acting Media Information Officer, Joint Task Force, North East Operation Hadin Kai, Lieutenant A.S. Atokolo, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.
He said the terrorists, who launched a large-scale, multi-directional attack on the base, “initially attempted to breach part of the defensive perimeter but were met with overwhelming and sustained firepower from gallant troops, with support from the Air Component and other Nigerian Army aerial platforms.”
According to the statement, after a prolonged firefight that lasted for over an hour, the “terrorists were decisively overpowered and forced to withdraw.
The statement reads: “During the engagement, terrorists’ rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fire affected troop-carrying vehicles and the CCTV control room, which were partially gutted by fire. Despite this, troops maintained firm control of the situation.
“Several terrorist weapons and ammunition, including a 60mm mortar tube, mortar bombs, locally fabricated explosives, heavy machine gun rounds, and hundreds of rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, were recovered from the terrorists.
“Crucially, this engagement did not end at the FOB. Persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms immediately tracked the fleeing terrorists, enabling follow-up operations along identified withdrawal routes by the Air Component of OPHK.
“The precision strikes by Nigerian Air Force platforms resulted in the neutralisation of additional scores of the terrorists, dealing a severe blow to the group’s fighting strength and morale.
Evidence from the exploitation confirmed that the terrorists suffered heavy casualties.”
