Boko Haram kills at least 30 soldiers in NE Nigeria

LAGOS, Sept  2 — At least 30 Nigerian security force members were killed after Boko Haram militants stormed a village in restive northeast Borno State, military sources told Xinhua on Saturday.
The attack occurred at Zari village in Guzamala area of the state, the sources said, adding that the corpses of the soldiers were secretly brought to Maiduguri, capital of Borno.
“Yes, some of boys were attacked and unfortunately, we lost about 30 boys (soldiers) to the Boko Haram terrorists, but they (Boko Haram) suffered more casualties,” one of the sources told Xinhua on the condition of anonymity.
Another source said several soldiers were seriously injured in the attack, describing the situation as very sad.
“It is true, they were killed and their corpses have been brought secretly to Maiduguri,” the source added.
The Nigerian army had confirmed the attack occurred in a statement late Friday, saying troops killed several Boko Haram insurgents and recovered weapons in Guzamala area of restive northeast Borno after a crossfire.
Onyeama Nwachukwu, a spokesperson for the Nigerian army, said in a statement reaching Xinhua that overwhelming volume of fire was unleashed on the insurgents from both the air and ground troops, neutralizing several of them and their weapons during the fight.
This is one of the several attacks against Nigerian security forces in the northern part of the country this year.
A military vehicle was ambushed by Boko Haram and seven troops lost their lives in Borno while on a rescue mission to neighboring Benin Republic on July 14.
Some of the soldiers sustained bullet wounds and escaped into the bush while four died on the spot.
The bodies of seven troops were said to have been found in the bush 25 days after the attack by the terrorist group.
On March 20, 11 soldiers were killed by armed bandits at Kampanin Doka Village in northern Kaduna State.
Boko Haram has been trying since 2009 to establish an Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria, having killed some 20,000 people and forcing displacement of millions of others.
The resilience of the insurgent Boko Haram group in the Lake Chad basin since 2009 posed enormous security, humanitarian and governance challenges, according to the United Nations.
Four countries caught up in the insurgency are Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. The United Nations said the Boko Haram had displaced nearly 2.4 million people in the Lake Chad sub-region.