Nigeria kills 53 Boko Haram Takfiris

The Nigerian army says it has killed more than 50 members of the Boko Haram Takfiri group after it repulsed an assault on a military base in a northeastern town.

According to AFP, Nigeria’s Director of Defense Information Major General Chris Olukolade said in a statement on Saturday that some 53 Boko Haram members had been killed after they engaged in a gun battle with Nigerian forces in the northeastern town of Damboa on Friday night.
According to the statement, five soldiers and a senior military officer were also killed in the fire fight.
Nigerian police said earlier that Boko Haram attacked the Damboa base in the Borno state with rocket-propelled grenades.
Nigeria has recently witnessed a surge of abductions and atrocities by the Takfiri group in its northeastern parts.
In a separate incident on Friday, at least five people were killed and dozens of others injured when a bomber detonated an explosives-laden pick-up truck near a mosque in the northeastern village of Konduga.
Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly gun and bomb attacks in various parts of Nigeria since 2009.
Boko Haram — whose name means “Western education is forbidden” — says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government.