Many persons were feared killed Thursday night as Boko Haram gunmen staged a late evening attack on Rann, the headquarters of Kala Balge local government area of Borno State, sources said.
File photo
Nigerian troops suffered a massive setback in the war against terrorism as Boko Haram terrorists sprung a surprise attack on Rann killing at least a dozen people and injuring several others.
A security source told SaharaReporters that the terror group stormed military base of the 3rd Battalion in Rann headquarters of Kala-Balge on Thursday at about 6 pm and engaged in a gun duel that lasted for 5 hours.
The terrorist group also reportedly abducted three aid workers (2 from ICRC clinic team and 1 from UNICEF) in addition to killing a UNICEF doctor, and two workers from the International Organization for Migration
On the military side, the terror group reportedly abducted at least three soldiers, killed three Mobile Policemen attached to an internally displaced person camp and made away with a military truck and an Armored personnel carrier belonging to the Nigerian army.
A security personnel who asked not to be named confirmed to PREMIUM Times via telephone that the attack started at about 7pm.
“We got the report that Rann was being attacked at about 7pm and that many persons may have been affected but no one can clearly say the number of dead casualty,” the source said.
“We have to wait till morning before one could tell exactly what happened there.”
An audio distress message sent out by a woman working for an international humanitarian organization in the town, also confirmed that the village was attacked by terrorists.
There is no telephone service in Rann, but humanitarian workers depend on wifi services provided by their employers to communicate with loved ones via social media platforms that support video or voice calls.
Rann is a small town in Borno State, Northeastern Nigeria, and a home to a camp for internally displaced people. In January 2017, a Nigerian military jet mistakenly bombed a refugee camp, killing more than 100 people.
Many civilians including personnel of International Committee of the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) were wounded in the attack.
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