Five soldiers killed by IED blast in Borno State

Five soldiers killed by IED blast in Borno State

Story from Saleh INUWA, Kano

An Improvised Explosive Device (IED), suspected to have been set as a trap by members affiliated with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorist group in Borno state near the country’s boundary with Niger Republic, resulted in the gruesome deaths of five military operatives in the region.

According to credible informants from an anonymous army barrack within the community, the unfortunate incident occurred when a military vehicle transporting soldiers drove over a landmine.

When contacted, two military commanders revealed that some soldiers from their unit, who were surveilling the village of Laayi located close to the town of Damasak in the region’s northeast, drove over a mine on Monday, 24th April 2023. This led to an explosion that killed five soldiers and gravely wounded others.

One of the military commanders, Babakura Kolo, explained that the soldiers detonated an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) set on the ground by ISWAP terrorists, causing their instant death and the destruction of the vehicle they were travelling in.

He added that the explosion “killed all five troops that were on board.”

Kolo further stated that the ISWAP terrorists had previously assaulted the village a day before the incident, took away four inhabitants including their village leader, and set the explosives in place before fleeing.

They knew fully well that the soldiers would come to assess the damage done, making it a case of “killing two birds with one stone.”

He assured that the deaths of the soldiers would be avenged at all costs.

Meanwhile, a second military commander, Ibrahim Liman, gave similar assertions to Kolo’s statements.

He said, “We will not rest until the perpetrators of this dastardly act are brought to their knees. These bloodthirsty terrorists are biting off more than they can chew, and we, the military authorities, will not sit back and watch our men die like chickens due to the nefarious activities of ISWAP fighters. Something has to be done, and fast.”