Twenty Boko Haram militants (20) were killed following a gunfight with government troops in Nigeria’s northeastern town of Baga, military spokesman John Enenche has confirmed.
The military spokesman also confirmed that nine government soldiers were wounded in the encounter in Baga, one of the locations frequently attacked by Boko Haram in the northern state of Borno.
The Boko Haram militants, armed with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, were on the move to attack villages in Baga when Nigerian troops acting on intelligence intercepted their convoy with overwhelming gunfire. Twenty militants were killed while several fled with gun wounds.
Since 2009, Boko Haram has been trying to establish an Islamist state in northeastern Nigeria, extending its attacks to countries in the Lake Chad Basin.
The militant group has posed massive security, humanitarian and governance challenges in the Lake Chad basin, which also include Chad, Cameroon, Benin, and Niger, according to the United Nations.
