Three Nigerian soldiers on a special surveillance duty with Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) in the Nigerian border with Chad were killed by Boko Haram militants, the military said on Monday.
The multinational task force is a joint operation among three African nations of Nigeria, Niger and Chad established to ensure security and inter-nations’ cooperation.
Boko Haram has been responsible for the killing of many policemen, soldiers and uniformed men in the northern part of Nigeria.
The religious sect demands the introduction of a system in the mode of the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
A military source told Xinhua that gunmen ambushed the three soldiers and a woman on Sunday at Ala-Garno border Post in Kukawa Local Government area, north of Borno at 10:35 p.m. local time.
The area shares border with Chad.
The gunmen rode to the area in an unmarked Volkswagen Golf and fired several shots at the soldiers and a woman while they were about to sleep.
An official of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) told Xinhua that the corpses of the deceased soldiers were brought to the hospital morgue for autopsy but were later taken to the state Specialists Hospital morgue in Maiduguri, the state capital due to lack of space.
Meanwhile, the Brigade Commander of the 21 Armored Brigade, Brig.Gen Tanko Gaiya disclosed that the three soldiers were not members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) drafted to Borno to combat the Boko Haram menace. “The three soldiers belong to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) comprising Nigeria, Niger and Chad. They were on special assignment to patrols the border areas and ensure security,” he said.