Army general, 3 soldiers killed in terror attack in Nigeria, official says

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria

An army general and three soldiers were killed Saturday in a terror attack on a remote town in Nigeria, according to an official.

Spokesman for the Nigerian Army Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu said in a statement that Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a Boko Haram splinter group, attacked Askira in northeast Borno State.

"Sadly, a gallant senior officer Brig/ Gen. Dzarma Zirkusu and three soldiers paid the supreme sacrifice in a very rare display of gallantry," he said.

Nwachukwu said the military deployed fighter jets which destroyed nine gun trucks and one armored personnel carrier of the terrorists.

He said the army contacted the families of the slain soldiers.

Residents who fled told Anadolu Agency that terrorists stormed the town early Saturday in a convoy of about 12 gun trucks and set fire to houses and public buildings.

The attack came as army operational commanders held a retreat on internal security at an army staff training college in northwest Kaduna State.

Three million civilians have been displaced and more than 30,000 killed in the 12 years of terror attacks in Nigeria, according to a report by the UN Office for Coordination Humanitarian Affairs.