TWO KILLED, FOUR INJURED IN BOMB ATTACKS ON MALI-BOUND NIGERIAN TROOPS AT OKENE

About 190 Nigerian troops were ambushed a few kilometers from Okene in Kogi state today. The attack took place around 6: 05 AM Nigerian time as militants cut through the convoy of Mali-bound Nigerian army peacekeepers traveling in three luxurious buses via Kaduna too Bamako, Mali. The militants decimated the convoy with the aid of IEDs planted on the highway and began firing on the troops afterwards.

The soldiers were under escort at the time and the military escorts alter returned fire, but the assailants who were parked on both sides of the highway escaped the scene after two soldiers had been killed and several others injured.

Nigerian Army spokesperson, Brigadier General Bola Koleosho confirmed to Saharareporters by phone that two soldiers were killed while the bomb explosion injured four others. The wounded soldiers are receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Center in Okene.

The attack is coming on the heels of disclosure by the Chief of Army Staff Azubuike Ihejirika last week that Mali trained Boko Haram sect militants have arrived Nigeria in large numbers to carry out attacks on various targets in the country.

Also a JTF source told SaharaReporters that Boko Haram elusive leader, Abubakar Shekau is currently in Mali receiving weapon training after sustaining injuries during a shoot out in Maiduguri last year. The source said Shekau now limps on one leg. Culled by Sara Reporter