Suspected Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram fighters launched coordinated attacks on an army base and a military outpost in Borno State, North-East Nigeria, killing at least 15 people, security sources told Reuters in a report on Wednesday, March 26.
Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters have mainly operated in the North-East, attacking security forces and civilians and killing and displacing tens of thousands of people,the report said.
It added that in the latest assault, Boko Haram insurgents and ISWAP fighters attacked an army base in the Wajiroko area of Borno State at about 9pm on Monday and set military equipment on fire.
One of the soldiers in the Wajiroko brigade, according to the report, said that at least four soldiers had been killed and several others injured, including the Brigade Commander.
Between midnight and 3 a.m. local time on Tuesday, militants attacked a military outpost in Wulgo, a village about 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) from the Cameroonian border town of Fotokol, a military source who asked not to be named, told Reuters .
He said at least 11 Cameroonians were killed and 21 injured in a raid that targeted soldiers who are fighting the insurgency as part of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF).
It is suspected that the fighters initially launched their attack using drones before advancing with a ground assault, the military source added.
“They looted an important stockpile of weapons,” the source said.
Videos shared on social media showed bloodied bodies lying on the ground after the attack, charred patrol vehicles and damaged buildings. Reuters could not independently verify those videos.
A Nigerian army spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
Cameroon’s army spokesperson Cyrille Serge Atonfack Guemo confirmed the attack but said the casualty figures were still unclear.
Makinta Modu, a member of the local militia recruited to help the army, said in the Wajiroko attack militants overran an army “forward operation base”.
“Around 10:30 p.m. (2130 GMT) Air Force fighter jets came for reinforcement… and killed many of the ISWAP fighters that captured the military base,” Modu said.
It was not clear whether the army had regained control over the base.
Although weakened by military assaults and internal fighting over the years, Boko Haram and ISWAP have stepped up attacks on military and civilian targets in Borno this year, Reuters claimed.
An Islamist insurgency has plagued the North-East of Africa’s most populous country for more than a decade, while kidnapping and banditry are rampant in the North-West and gang and separatist violence common in the South-East,said the report. (Reuters)
