At least 2 soldiers of Operation Sahel Sanity in North-West Nigeria have lost their lives while 2 others were injured during a fierce gun battle to foil an attack on Ungwar Doka village in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State. While the injured soldiers are responding positively to treatment at the military medical facility, the gallant troops successfully neutralised 21 bandits with several others escaping with various degrees of injuries.
In a statement by the Acting Director Defence Media Operations, Brigadier-General Bernard Onyeuko, the troops also rescued 8 abducted victims including an 8-month old baby who had been held captive by the criminals for more than 23 days.
According to the statement, the incident occurred on the evening of Thursday based on credible information that bandits were launching an attack on the village which made the troops respond swiftly and immediately mobilised to the general area where they successfully cleared the village of the marauders to the admiration of the locals.
Onyeuko added that, during the exploitation phase of the operation, the gallant troops recovered one AK 47 rifle, one AK 47 magazine, and 3 motorcycles from the fleeing bandits adding that, the fearless troops have continued to pursue the bandits into the forest and dominating the general areas with aggressive fighting patrols to deny them any respite.
While commending the troops for their gallantry and efforts to safeguard the area from invasion by the bandits, Onyeuko encouraged the locals to continue to avail troops with timely and credible information that will assist in the conduct of operations to rout the criminal elements.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
