No fewer than 17 soldiers were killed, while many others were abducted in two confrontations on Friday and Saturday between the military and Boko Haram insurgents on Bama-Gwoza highway
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The insurgents were said to have initially attacked Firgi, 20 kilometres north of Pulka along the road from Gwoza to Bama on Friday.
They were said to have killed 13 soldiers in the crossfire that took over two hours.
The insurgents were said to have forced some of the soldiers to retreat.
They were said to have attacked a military company at Banki junction on Bama-Gwoza Road around 10pm.
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The battle was said to have lasted for about three hours.
Punch gathered that the casualties on the side of the military were four, while that of the insurgents was not known.
Reaction of the military could not be got as text messages to both Col. Sagir Musa, Army spokesman, and Col. Isa Ado, spokesman for the Military Joint Task Force on Counter-Insurgency in the North-East (Operation Lafiya Dole) were not responded to. Punch