Heavy fighting between troops of the Nigerian Military and
heavily armed terrorists of the Boko Haram sect fighting to retain control of
Gwoza town in Borno State, was on-going
last night with Airforce attack helicopters providing air cover as the
insurgents remained recalcitrant in the battle.
In fact, a top military source, who spoke to Vanguard last
night, said the insurgents’ fire-power in being able to withstand the
fire-power of the military forces was a source of concern to the military
command in the epicentre of the war on terror.
There were reports of casualties from both the military and
the terrorists while the sheer number of the insurgents and the fact that they were heavily armed prompted the ground troops
to request for reinforcements from the air force to provide air bombardments.
Units of the 213 battalion Task Force and 234 Special
Operations battalion both based in Mubi which attempted to retake Gwoza
Township from Islamist militant Boko Haram were said to have retreated and sent
signals for air support as a result of unrelenting gun fire from the
insurgents.
While a source said using the word defeat of Nigerian
soldiers fighting to retake Gwoza town from the grip of Boko Haram insurgents was
childish, he noted that the commanders on ground were only making strategies
for more effective offensive.
Reports from the battle-field had indicated that following
three days of fighting over 100 civilians and several soldiers were killed
Newsmen gathered that some officers (names withheld) who led
the attempt to recapture Gwoza and other towns from the terrorists were feared
either dead or captured by the insurgents and their whereabouts was a source of
concern to the military authorities.
Meanwhile due to the
worrisome terrain of the battle area, the terrorists were able to ambush some
of the soldiers and demobilise some of their equipment.
There were conflicting figures on the casualty figures on the
part of soldiers killed, but it was not possible to get confirmation.
Recall that the Nigerian military at the weekend recaptured
Damboa town after Boko Haram overran the town and planted its flag.
As at the time of sending this report, Vanguard was expecting
the Director of Defence Information, Maj General Chris Olukolade to reply a
text questionnaire on the situation of the fighting in Gwoza.
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