ABUJA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of 22 Boko Haram militants were killed by Nigerian troops in a recent operation aimed at clearing the remnants of the terror group in the northeast region, a military official said on Thursday.

The operation on Oct. 25 at Damboa, a town in the northeastern state of Borno, followed an attempt by the terrorists to overrun an army base in that part of the country, said Benard Onyeuko, a spokesman for the military.

The terrorists met their waterloo, as troops pounded them with superior firepower and additional fire support from the air task force, Onyeuko told reporters.

Many other Boko Haram militants escaped from the encounter with varying degrees of gunshot wounds, he said.

A few soldiers were wounded in the gunfight, Onyeuko added, declining to give the exact number of casualties on the side of the military. The wounded troops were evacuated to a military medical facility.

According to him, two gun trucks belonging to the militants were destroyed.

Boko Haram has been trying to establish an Islamist state in northeastern Nigeria since 2009, extending its attacks to countries in the Lake Chad Basin. Enditem

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