A senior officer and Commanding Officer in the Nigerian Army, Lieutenant Colonel Umar Farouq, has been identified as one of those killed by Boko Haram during a fresh attack on a military base in Borno State.
SaharaReporters had earlier reported how a military base in Kukuwa town came under a highly coordinated attack on Sunday by militants of the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram.
Sources said the terrorists dislodged the troops from the base, set vehicles ablaze and carted away ammunition.
They subsequently launched an assault on residents of the community in Kukawa Local Government Area of the state.
Giving an update on Monday afternoon, a source identified Lieutenant Colonel Farouq as one of the casualties.
“The commanding officer here, Lieutenant Colonel Umar Farouq, and some of his troops have been confirmed dead already, so sad,” the source said.
This incident comes less than 72 hours after Boko Haram insurgents killed another senior officer identified as Lieutenant Colonel SI Iliyasu.
Iliyasu, who was the Commanding Officer of 222 Battalion, and some of his men were killed in Konduga, Borno State by the terrorists.
In the past months, soldiers have been targeted by the insurgents.
Between 10 pm last Thursday night and 3 am last Friday, the terrorists simultaneously attacked four military bases in Konduga, Mainok, Jakana, and Marte town in Borno State.
They reportedly fired at the military facilities sporadically, causing numerous casualties.
The gunmen also came in different groups. During the attacks, the gunmen reportedly burned armoured tanks, military vehicles, and made away with unquantifiable ammunition.
According to one of the sources, the military also killed scores of Boko Haram terrorists while repelling the attacks.
“Several attacks on military bases in Operation Hadin Kai by gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists in Konduga, Mainok, Jakana around 10:30 pm last night, while in Marte town around 3:00 am on Friday; the attacks on military bases keep increasing on a daily basis within the North East operation,” a military source told SaharaReporters.
“One is along Bama and close to Maiduguri; I mean the base attacked in Konduga, while Mainok and Jakana town are both along Maiduguri/Damaturu road.”
Marte town, where another base was attacked, is after Dikwa Local Government Area, close to the Chad border.
“During these different attacks, many Boko Haram members were killed, including their commanders. I don’t have the actual numbers of soldiers killed as well, but the terrorists took over some of these bases for hours without air support from the Nigerian Air Force,” one of the sources said.
“As they usually do, they burned the camps with all the military equipment.”
Multiple sources told SaharaReporters on Saturday that more than 40 corpses of dead soldiers were recovered.
This incident came less than 24 hours after Boko Haram insurgents killed an unspecified number of civilians and abducted several women after launching an attack on a military post in Ngoshe community in Gwoza Local Government Area of the state.
SaharaReporters had exclusively reported how the terrorists first stormed the military base before unleashing violence on residents at about 1 am last Wednesday.
The militants invaded the 82 Div TF Battalion under 26 BDE and also launched an assault on a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the community.
Earlier in the month, many soldiers, including a Major, Ibrahim Mairiga, were killed in an attack on the Forward Base operations at Banki junction, along Bama/Gwaza Road in the state.
In February, another military base in Jakana, Kaga Local Government Area of the state, was attacked. During the assault, the gunmen burnt armoured tanks and military vehicles and made away with unquantifiable ammunition.
A few days before the attack, seven military personnel, including a newly promoted Lieutenant Colonel, were killed in an ambush by the terrorists.
SaharaReporters had reported that Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed was leading a troop of soldiers from Maiduguri to Damasak, Mobbar Local Government area of Borno State, when they came under attack by the insurgents on Monday, January 26, 2025.
Military sources said the terrorists used explosives and heavy gunfire. Apart from the dead bodies recovered, many other soldiers were seriously injured.
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