 Six Nigerian troops killed in Boko Haram raid Kano, Nigeria (AFP) Jan 19, 2019 - Six Nigerian soldiers were killed and 14 injured when Boko Haram jihadists raided a village near the army chief's family home, security and hospital sources said Saturday. The jihadists attacked an army position overnight Thursday in Kamuya, a village in the northeastern state of Borno near the home of army chief of staff Tukur Yusuf Buratai's mother, the sources said. "We lost six soldiers in the fight and 14 others sustained various degrees of injuries," an army officer said. "The terrorists also suffered heavy losses," the officer added without giving figures. A medic at the hospital in nearby Damaturu confirmed that the bodies of six soldiers were taken to the morgue on Friday. Four military vehicles were also seized by the jihadists while two others were destroyed, said the military source who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak about the incident. Security sources initially told AFP that troops had fought off the militants in a three-hour battle during which the jihadists failed to overrun the post. It was not known which Boko Haram faction was behind the attack, although the IS-affiliated Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) is known to operate in the area. Kamuya was hit twice by Boko Haram in December 2015, not long after Buratai, a lieutenant general, was appointed chief of army staff. The latest attack came days after Boko Haram overran a military base in the town of Rann, near the border with Cameroon, forcing thousands of civilians to flee. Fourteen people, including three soldiers, were said to have been killed in that attack, and aid workers said buildings used by humanitarian organisations had been burned to the ground. The UN's humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, said Friday that the attacks -- and others like it -- were having a "devastating impact" on civilians and the relief effort. Around 1.8 million people are still homeless because of the insurgency, which began in 2009 and has killed more than 27,000.
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United States military forces carried out an airstrike Saturday against Islamist group Al-Shabaab, killing 52 militants, according to a statement from US Africa Command.
"US Africa Command conducted the airstrike in response to an attack by a large group of al-Shabaab militants against Somali National Army Forces. We currently assess this airstrike killed fifty-two militants," read the statement.
Military officials and local elders in Somalia said heavily-armed Shabaab militants had launched a dawn raid on a military camp, followed by a heavy exchange of gunfire which lasted hours.
"The terrorists attacked Bulogagdud military base using heavy weaponry and explosives. The Somali military and Jubaland forces resisted the enemy before later retreating back from the base," Mohamed Abdikarin, a Somali military official told AFP by phone.
"Six soldiers were killed during the attack and two others died after a booby-trapped vehicle was detonated when the forces retook control of the base," he added.
Sources at nearby villages said the militants looted the camp and took a military vehicle.
"Al-Shabaab fighters secured control of the base and looted everything. They have set fire to the arms depots and took a military vehicle, but there were two choppers which carried out air strikes during the attack," traditional elder Hassan Rashid told AFP.
The Pentagon has increased the rate of strikes in Somalia in recent years, partly because President Donald Trump loosened constraints on when the US military can take action against alleged terrorists.
Suleyman Isse, another witness at a nearby village, said the Somali forces later regrouped after receiving reinforcement from Kismayo and returned to the base.
"The Somali forces retook control of the base with the assistance of military helicopters belonging to the US special forces which were hovering over the area even after the attack," he said.
Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the attack and claimed to have killed 42 soldiers.
The incident came a day after Shabaab said it had attacked Ethiopian troops in Somalia in an ambush attack on the road between the capital and the southwest town of Baidoa.
The Shabaab have been fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu and on Tuesday carried out a deadly attack in neighbouring Kenya, which it has regularly targeted since Nairobi sent troops into Somalia.
Four gunmen and a suicide bomber left 21 dead and injured 28 in Nairobi.
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