Brigadier General Mohammed Yusuf of the 21 Armoured Brigade, who briefed Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima during his visit to the devastated town of Benisheik
on September 19, 2013, Thursday, said soldiers stationed in Benisheik
ran out of ammunitions and this forced them to leave their places of
duty during the incident.
“Our
men did not desert Benisheik, they would be back latest by Friday
[September 20] after full reinforcement,” Brig. Gen. Yusuf said.
Colonel
Babalola, who reported to the Governor at the military base in
Benisheik which was also bombed by the insurgents, confirmed that three
policemen and two soldiers lost their lives during the encounter.
It would be mentioned that the overall death toll of the Tuesday’s attack amounts to 161 at the moment of writing this article.
One
of the soldiers, who spoke to the Daily Trust reporters on the terms of
anonymity, revealed that the alleged Boko Haram insurgents had superior
power.
“The
terrorists were using anti-aircraft guns while we were using AK47
rifles and some RPGs. They came in droves, driving about 20 pick-up
trucks accompanied with two light-armored tankers, all wearing military
colors. We had to retreat to our base to reinforce after running out of
ammunition,” he said.
“However,
they followed us down and surrounded our base and began to shell our
building. We couldn’t stand the heat of their superior fire power. We
had to retreat into the village after they killed two of our soldiers
and three policemen.”
The
soldier also narrated that after the siege, the insurgents were able to
capture an armoured tank and four pick-up vehicles painted in military
colours from the military base.
We shall keep you updated as more confirmations become available.
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