Nigerian troops backed by civilian vigilantes on Tuesday claimed to have killed more than 70 Boko Haram fighters in a foiled attack to capture the strategic town of Konduga near Maiduguri. A would-be suicide bomber was shot and killed before he could ram his explosives-laden car into a military checkpoint in the town during the attack on Monday, witnesses said.
Around 150 Boko Haram fighters entered the fishing town with a large herd of cattle pretending to be herders and opened fire on troops stationed in the town, leading to a six-hour gun battle. “At the last count 73 Boko Haram gunmen were killed in the foiled attack,” a civilian vigilante, Butari Mala, told AFP.Among those killed was a suicide bomber who was shot inside his car loaded with explosives before he could reach his target,” he said.