It was a mixture of joy and sadness for the Nigerian troops on clearance operations in the Northeast on Friday Morning when the troops stormed Guro Gongon village and environs to rout out remnants of Boko Haram terrorists hibernating therein.

Army spokesman, Sani Usman, said the troops destroyed terrorists’ makeshift camps and recovered a number of weapons, equipment and foodstuff in the process including 1 Gun truck mounted with an Anti-Aircraft Gun, a MOWAG Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), 1 Rocket Propelled Grenade Tube, 1 Light Machine Gun, 3 AK-47 rifles and motorcycles.

“However, the gallant soldiers basking on the recorded success, returning to their defensive locations, ran into an ambush by a group of Boko Haram terrorists who came to reinforce their fleeing comrades,

“The troops fought back gallantly killing several of the insurgents,

“Sadly however, 19 soldiers and 3 civilian JTF members were wounded while a few others were missing in action,” Usman stated.

The army spokesman added that the wounded have been evacuated and are responding to treatment, while a search and rescue party comprising of Special Forces personnel has since been dispatched to establish contact with the troops missing in action, “some of whom, as at the time of filing this report, have started returning to their defensive location.”

Usman said “no stone would be left unturned until every person involved in the operation has been accounted for.”