By Sam Kayode
Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai, Major-General Chris Musa, has described the claim of the Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP) to have taken out 20 soldiers of the Nigerian Army last Saturday in the Lake Chad region as false.
Maj-Gen Musa said that even though Mallam Fatori was flooded and the insurgents wanted to “rout the troops” spirited efforts were made to counter their offensive.
The Theatre Commander operation Hadin Kai however confirmed that five soldiers were lost in the fierce battle with 10 others injured on Saturday
Gen Musa had actually visited troops of operation Hadin Kai that same day adding that the notion that even eight soldiers were killed was equally far from the reality of what is on ground.
ISWAP broadcast after the fight
The insurgents, ISWAP, had posted online that about 20 members of the Nigerian army were killed and dozens injured in an attack on two camps in Mallam Fatori the head quarters of Abadam in Borno state .
ISWAP posted on Tuesday that ” the soldiers of the Caliphate attacked two camps of the Nigerian Army, in the town of Mallam Fatori in the Borno region last Saturday, where they attacked the first camp located outside the town with various types of weapons, which led to the death of more than 20 soldiers and the wounding of about 30 others.
They claimed to have burnt two vehicles and seized a third one, in addition to a sizable quantity of weapons and ammunition as their booty.
“Then, we attacked the second camp inside the town, on the same Saturday evening, killing about 10 militants, wounding others, and burning a vehicle” They noted in the internet broadcast.
Intelligence sources have hinted that hundreds of ISWAP elements have taken hideout solace in the numerous Tumbus Islands of the Lake Chad region after troops drove them out of their previous hideouts in the Sambisa, Gwoza hills and Alageno forest.
The ISWAP faction of Boko Haram had always held on to the Lake Chad council areas even before the elimination of Shekau who had always been a master of the the thick Savannah forests around Sambisa and Alageno.
With the death of Shekau, ISWAP has become the main contender of the entire multinational forces along the Lake Chad and the countless islands in the Timbuktu axis.
