Hours after suffering a costly defeat at the hands of Nigerian soldiers, heavily armed insurgents belonging to the Islamist terror group, Boko Haram, returned to fight some more in Kodunga, Borno State.
Fighting between the two sides continues in the area around Kodunga tonight, our source said.
A military source told SaharaReporters that army commanders were taken aback to see the insurgents regroup and return to the scene of one of their most devastating defeats since Nigerian troops began combat operations against the sect in Nigeria’s northeast zone.
SaharaReporters had reported earlier that more than 200 Boko Haram fighters lost their lives in a fierce but one-sided battle between them and Nigerian soldiers. No soldier died in the battle that raged from last night to the early hours of today, with six soldiers wounded.
“The fact that they [Boko Haram] came back to fight again today in Konduga shows they have not given up on the attempt to capture Maiduguri,” said our military source. Maiduguri is the capital of the beleaguered Borno State, the center of the insurgents’ terror activities.
In the earlier battle, Nigerian troops killed a high-level commander of the sect, Bashir Mohammed, and seized various vehicles, weapons and ammunition from the sect fighters.
The death of the commander and their crushing defeat earlier today did little to discourage Boko Haram militants. Our security source said the sect commanders and fighters were attempting to approach Maiduguri through the Sojiri-Kayamla axis, quite close to Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri.