Several Nigerian soldiers were feared killed on Thursday when fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked an army base in Sabon Gari, Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State.
Military sources told our correspondent that the insurgents stormed the military formation in large numbers, firing sporadically and overwhelming troops on duty, leading to heavy casualties among soldiers and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF).
A source said, “There was an attack and many soldiers were killed, but the exact number is still unclear.”
During the assault, the attackers reportedly set ablaze armoured tanks and several gun trucks and carted away an unquantified quantity of arms and ammunition before withdrawing from the base.
ISWAP later claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement circulated online, accompanied by a video showing its fighters firing towards the military facility and celebrating what it described as a “successful raid”.
The latest incident comes barely days after seven military personnel, including a newly promoted Lieutenant Colonel, were killed in an ambush along the Maiduguri–Damasak axis in Mobbar Local Government Area of the state.
Sources said the officer, identified as Lt. Col. Mohammed, was leading a convoy of troops from Maiduguri to Damasak on Monday, January 26, when insurgents struck using explosives and heavy gunfire.
Several soldiers were said to have sustained serious injuries, while an unspecified number remain missing.
Security analysts note that since the death of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, ISWAP has consolidated its presence around the Lake Chad basin, bolstered by the defection of hundreds of fighters formerly loyal to Shekau.
Despite repeated assurances by the Nigerian Army that insurgents have been largely degraded, attacks on military formations and civilian communities have persisted in parts of the North-East.
The decade-long insurgency has reportedly claimed over 100,000 lives and displaced millions of people, mainly in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
Efforts to obtain official reaction from military authorities as of press time proved unsuccessful.
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