Military sources from the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and Army said that attempts by Boko Haram to attack the Nigerien border town of Rann in Borno State, were foiled with the killings of 15 insurgents by troops in the early hours of last Friday.

Rann, a farming and fishing community, is 243 kilometres North of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

A NAF source said not less than 15 of them were killed in a dawn attack on a contingent of soldiers from 3 Battalion and 112 Task Force
Battalion stationed in the border areas with Niger Republic.

“They are believed to be among those recently dislodged from Sambisa Forest on December 23, 2016,” said the military source.He disclosed that four soldiers got wounded but were subsequently evacuated by a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Augusta Helicopter.

The Rann attempted attack came a week after President Muhammadu Buhari declared that Boko Haram fighters had been routed from Sambisa Forest, which had served as their operational bases for seven years.