No fewer than 40 Nigerian soldiers were killed and the
whereabouts of 65 others were unknown in a deadly assault by suspected
Boko Haram members in the sect’s stronghold in Borno state.
Various defence sources conveyed the information to PREMIUM TIMES,
adding that the army authorities are outraged by the insurgents’ strike,
and have ordered an investigation into the suspected operation blunder
that gave the militants such an upper hand. The commanding officer of
the unit that carried out the operation has now been removed from his
post, officials say.
The casualty, one of the heaviest for the military in its campaign
against the militant group in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, occurred
along the Baga – Maiduguri road on Friday, September 13, 2013.
Presumably it happened due to a ‘classic’ case operational and
communication failure.
A detachment of soldiers under the 134 Battalion of the 12 Brigade
under the Multi National Joint Task Force, MNJTF, stationed in Kangarwa
village in Kukawa local government, had conducted a reconnaissance to
gather intelligence around the area, during which they established the
presence of previously unnoticed Boko Haram camps.
The soldiers returned to their base and filed a report recommending
aerial bombardment of the area, preparatory for a ground operation by
troops. But that plan was cancelled at the final minutes by an unnamed
top official without formal communication to the more than 100 troops
that had already advanced on the area. So the soldiers rushed to the
terrorists’ stronghold without knowing that the aerial bombardment had
been cancelled.
The soldiers were trapped in the ambush under heavy fire from the
militants who had surrounded the area, leaving at least 40 soldiers
killed. Some 65 others have remained missing. The insurgents were able
to recover a huge cache of weapons from the deceased and run-away
soldiers.
As with past failures that ended in bloodshed and heavy casualty
against the military, authorities have struggled to place a lid on the
incident.
But a top security source confirmed the incident and said the army headquarters have ordered an investigation.
The recent attack came less than two months after a similar
miscalculation on August 4 which also resulted in a heavy casuaulty
following a similar surprise attack by Boko Haram on a camp at Malam
Fatori.
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