A soldier has reportedly been killed and another injured following an attack by Boko Haram insurgents on a military base in Sabon Gari, Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State.
According to The PUNCH, the state Commissioner of Information and Internal Security, Usman Tar, confirmed the incident, stating that the casualties resulted from an Improvised Explosive Device detonation rather than direct combat.
“I can confirm there was an IED attack in a place called Wajiroko (under Damboa). What happened is that our military personnel stepped on an IED. We lost one, and one sustained injuries. It was not an attack; it was an IED our soldiers stepped on,” Tar said.
Despite the commissioner’s statement, local sources suggest that the attack was more severe than officially acknowledged.
Residents told PUNCH Online that the assault occurred on Monday evening, with insurgents storming the military formation and firing indiscriminately, leading to the deaths of multiple troops and leaving several critically injured.
One local resident, Abba Usman, said the military reinforcement team also suffered losses when they unknowingly stepped on a landmine.
“I do not have much information, but I can confirm that there was an attack, and soldiers were killed. Here, we also heard about how soldiers rushing to the base for reinforcement stepped on something like a bomb, and it exploded,” Usman revealed.
A military source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also confirmed the attack but declined to disclose the number of casualties.
“There was an attack. Many soldiers were killed, but the figure is currently unknown,” the source stated.
The spokesperson of Operation Hadin Kai, Lt Colonel A.Y. Jingina, responded via text message, saying, “Please, I am out of station, and Sabon Gari is under Sector 2.”
