Terrorist Hits Army Convoy With Explosives-Laden Truck... kills 5 soldiers, injures 40

No fewer than five soldiers were killed and 40 injured when a Boko Haram jihadist rammed an explosives-laden truck into a military convoy in northeast, security sources told AFP.

The bomber, believed to be loyal to factional leader Abu Al-Barnawi, targeted the convoy, which was conducting “clearance operations” between Yobe and Borno states.

“At about 1100 hours (1000 GMT) on Thursday, a suicide bomber believed to be a Boko Haram terrorist riding in a van loaded with explosives rammed into a military convoy at Manguzum village,” one said.

“We lost five soldiers in the incident and more than 40 sustained various degrees of injuries,” one officer said, asking to be anonymous as he was not authorised to speak about the incident.

The convoy was heading to the garrison town of Damboa, which is some 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, at the time.

A second military source said the troops were heading into Borno when the jihadist crashed his vehicle into a tank.

“The armoured tank was seriously damaged and the operation slowed down,” he added.