Index to Nigerian Newspapers

Two soldiers died while successfully preventing coordinated terrorist attacks by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province in the New Marte and Kumshe areas of Borno State. According to a statement by Captain Reuben Kovangiya, the acting Deputy Director of Army Public Relations for the Theatre Command of Operation Hadin Kai, the ground troops and air component worked together to push back the insurgents using heavy gunfire and offensive aerial fire support. The combined military effort successfully decimated several fleeing terrorists. In a related event at the Forward Operating Base in Kumshe, the troops blocked another aggressive assault. To secure the areas, reinforcements from the 24 Task Force Brigade Garrison and the 134 Special Forces Battalion were quickly deployed to assist. During search operations after the battles, the soldiers recovered an abandoned sport utility vehicle packed with explosives and destroyed multiple motorcycles used by the insurgents. Troops also discovered numerous dead bodies and blood trails left by the retreating terrorists along their escape routes. Captain Reuben Kovangiya emphasized that the strong teamwork between the ground and air forces was essential to stopping the infiltration, and he restated the military's firm determination to keep up the pressure against terrorism to bring lasting peace and restore economic activities to the north-eastern region of Nigeria.