KANO: Thirty-five bodies in military uniform have been brought to a morgue in Nigeria’s restive northeast after a coordinated assault by Boko Haram targeting the security forces, a hospital source said yesterday.
The attack late on Thursday in the Yobe state capital of Damaturu was the first raid in a major urban centre in several weeks by the insurgent group waging a four-year Islamist uprising. Police and residents said large numbers of Boko Haram fighters, some in vehicles and some on foot, stormed Damaturu after dark.
Armed with guns and explosives, they attacked and torched four police buildings, sparking a fierce, hours-long gun battle with the security forces. “We have received lots of bodies in the last three days from the attacks. I counted 35 bodies in military uniform,” said a senior official at the Damaturu Specialist Hospital.
An army officer based in the central city of Jos said 20 soldiers had been admitted at a hospital there, suffering from “gunshot wounds sustained in the battle against Boko Haram in Damaturu.” AFP
