Fifteen persons have been killed in separate attacks on Sabon Gari and Mandaragirau villages in the Damboa and Biu local government areas in the southern part of Borno State.

Sources confirmed on Sunday that insurgents, who were on gun trucks and motorcycles, attacked the villages on Saturday and looted foodstuffs and drugs after scaring the villagers with indiscriminate gunshots.

The source stated, “Eight persons were slaughtered in two separate attacks by Boko Haram terrorists in Biu Local Government Area of Borno State on Saturday night.

“The Nigerian military troops, in multiple incidents, thwarted attempts by the terrorist group along the Mandaragarau Road in the early hours of Saturday before the fighters managed to gain access in the night.”

In a separate attack, terrorists killed seven other persons in Sabon Gari village in the Damboa LGA on Saturday night.

The terrorists were nine in number and they got into the communities on three motorcycles and four gun trucks; after accusing the locals of disclosing information of their plans to plant mines on the road to the military, they burnt down shops, looted foodstuffs and livestock belonging to the residents, a soldier told our correspondent.

Meanwhile, troops of the Nigerian Army repelled an attack by ISWAP fighters in the Konduga Local Government Area of the state.

The troops, under the Operation Desert Sanity, who were on a long-range patrol of the general area, intercepted the communication of the terrorists on a mission to plant Improvised Explosive Device on the routes and attack a military base.

It was learnt that the troops thwarted the plans after they stormed the scene and tackled the fleeing terrorists.

Punch