No fewer than five soldiers have been reportedly killed and 40 others seriously injured after a member of the Boko Haram sect rammed an explosives-laden pick-up truck into a military convoy in Borno State.
The attack was reportedly carried out by a sect member believed to be a loyalist of factional leader, Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi.
The sect members reportedly ambushed the military convoy, which was conducting “clearance operations” between Yobe and Borno states, a military officer said.
“At about 1100 hours (1000 GMT) on Thursday, a suicide bomber believed to be a Boko Haram terrorist riding in a van loaded with explosives rammed into a military convoy at Manguzum village,” the officer told newsmen in the volatile city on Friday.
“We lost five soldiers in the incident and more than 40 sustained various degrees of injuries,” added an officer, who pleaded anonymity.
According to the officer, the convoy was heading to the garrison town of Damboa, which is some 90 kilometres from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, at the time.
The attack is coming barely one day after a gun duel erupted between the sect members and the Nigerian troops leading to the terrorist group sustaining huge casualties.