At least 47 soldiers killed during Boko Haram ambush in Nigeria
ABUJA,
At least 47 Nigerian soldiers were killed in an ambush by suspected Boko Haram fighters in the country's northeast region, according to defense sources on Tuesday.
A defense spokesman told Xinhua that bodies of up to 47 soldiers were recovered late Monday when members of the Boko Haram terror group laid an ambush for them in the Buk area of the Sambisa forest in the northern state of Borno.
Some 15 other soldiers were wounded in the ambush, said the source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The victims are currently receiving treatment at a military facility.
The incident was not direct combat with the terrorists, said another military source.
"The terrorists had ambushed military vehicles conveying logistics which included bombs and other weapons and shot at it, resulting in an explosion that killed the soldiers and the insurgents that mounted the ambush," said a top military commander.
The military vehicles had left Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to launch an offensive on a camp belonging to Boko Haram in the Buk area of the Sambisa forest, military sources further confirmed. (Xinhua)
