Despite federal government’s insistence that Boko Haram is near defeat, the insurgent group has again on Thursday, carried out an attack on military base with at least three soldiers killed and several missing in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state, military and militia sources told AFP.
Boko Haram fighters believed to be from the IS -affiliated Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, late Wednesday attacked the base in the town of Kareto, some 150 kilometres (about 90 miles) north of the state capital Maiduguri.
The militants were reported to have temporarily dislodged troops from the base before being repelled with aerial support, said he sources.
“We lost three soldiers in the fight and several others are still missing”, a military officer in Maiduguri told AFP.
“The terrorists were smoked out of the base by a fighter jet which deployed to the scene”, said the officer who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the incident.
According to the source, troop reinforcements were sent to the base. It was not clear if the jihadists took away weapons.
A civilian militia fighting Boko Haram in the area said troops withdrew to the town of Gubio, some 60km away, while Kareto residents fled across the border into Niger.
“The bodies of three soldiers were recovered after the attack”, said the militia source who preferred not to be identified.
“More troops have arrived in Kareto but most residents have not returned”, he said.
This is the second attack on the military base in two years.
In April 2016, a Boko Haram raid left 24 soldiers wounded, according to military authorities.
Recall again that Boko Haram jihadists had on Wednesday night, also attacked Mammanti village, just outside Maiduguri, killing one person and burning the entire village before stealing hundreds of cattle, the local chief of the village and residents said.
Earlier in the day a group of jihadists abducted seven women while working on a farm near the town of Bama, 70km away from Maiduguri, after killing their male escort, militia sources said.
Boko Haram has stepped up attacks on farmers and loggers in recent years, accusing them of passing information of the group to the military.
Courtesy: SCANNEWS
Sadly these soldiers are left with obsolete weapons to fight terrorists that have sophisticated weapons. Our men are being killed anyhow. When will boko haram be truly destroyed?