Nigerian troops suffered a massive setback in the war against terrorism as Boko Haram terrorists sprung a surprise attack on Rann killing at least a dozen people and injuring several others.

A security source told Saharareporters that the terror group stormed military base of the 3rd Battalion in Rann headquarters of Kala-Balge on Thursday at about 6 pm and engaged in a gun duel that lasted for 5 hours. The terror group also abducted three aid workers (2 from ICRC clinic team and 1 from UNICEF) in addition to killing a UNICEF doctor, and two workers from the International Organization for Migration

On the military side, the terror group abducted at least three soldiers, killed three Mobile Policemen attached to an internally displaced person camp and made away with a military truck and an Armored personnel carrier belonging to the Nigerian army.

Rann is a small town in Borno State, Northeastern Nigeria, and a home to a camp for internally displaced people. In January 2017, a Nigerian military jet mistakenly bombed a refugee camp, killing more than 100 people.

Many civilians including personnel of International Committee of the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) were wounded in the attack.

Leznzeh:
Four aid workers were killed in a Boko Haram attack in Rann, in northeast Nigeria, the UN said on Friday, in the latest violence to hit the remote town.

The attack happened “after dark” outside a camp housing some 55,000 people displaced by the conflict and appeared to target the military, said UN spokeswoman Samantha Newport.
A civilian militia source in Rann, which is some 175 kilometres (110 miles) from the Borno state capital of Maiduguri, and a senior military source gave an identical death toll.

They also said eight soldiers were killed in the attack but there was no immediate official confirmation.
Newport said: “Four aid workers were killed, one aid worker was injured and one aid worker is missing, feared abducted.

“Of the aid workers that were killed, two worked for the IOM (International Organization for Migration) in camp management; and one was a medical doctor working as a third party consultant for UNICEF,” the UN children’s agency, she said.

No details were immediately available for the fourth but Newport said the injured and missing were both women. All those involved were Nigerian, she added.

Boko Haram fighters killed nine people from the Rann internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in September last year, as they worked on farms just outside the town.
In January last year, a botched Nigerian air strike intended to hit jihadist fighters killed at least 112 people as aid workers distributed food.

Commanders at the time called the bombing a mistake and blamed “the fog of war”.
An air force board of inquiry later blamed “lack of appropriate marking of the area” for the bombardment and an unexpected gathering of people at the location.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/03/four-aid-workers-killed-boko-haram-attack-k/

SpecialAdviser:
May their blood be on top of Buhari head. Amin.
RIP to the dead.