Manny Ita –
Suspected terrorists linked to Islamic State West Africa Province have attacked two Nigerian military bases in Borno State, reportedly killing a commanding officer and several soldiers.
Security sources said the attacks targeted military formations in Goniri and Kukawa and were launched overnight on Monday. The exact number of casualties had not been independently verified as of the time of filing this report.
According to the sources, the insurgents also destroyed several military operational vehicles during the assault. However, troops were said to have killed a number of the attackers during the clash at the Kukawa base.
A resident of Kukawa told Daily Trust that the attack on the military facility in the area began shortly after midnight.
“They stormed the town from multiple directions and launched an attack on the military camp,” the resident was quoted as saying.
A jihadi researcher, Philip Brant, said the attack on the Goniri base was repelled with support from the Nigerian Air Force.
The latest incident comes four days after insurgents launched coordinated attacks on military camps in Mainok, Jakana, Marte and Konduga.
At the time, the Nigerian Army said it repelled the coordinated attacks and eliminated many of the terrorists, although a senior officer and an unspecified number of soldiers were also killed.
The army buried some of the slain soldiers on Saturday.
As of Monday, the army had not issued an official statement on the latest attacks. The spokesperson for the Nigerian Army, Appolonia Anele, had not responded to enquiries regarding the incidents.
Analysts have linked the renewed wave of attacks to an ongoing insurgent campaign by ISWAP targeting military formations in the North-east. Last year, the group launched an offensive it described as “Camp Holocaust,” reportedly overrunning at least 16 military bases.
According to a report by researcher Malik Samuel of Good Governance Africa, the campaign resulted in widespread violence, while the Institute for Security Studies estimated that about 500 people were killed in no fewer than 200 attacks carried out during the offensive.
Security analysts say insurgents have also increasingly deployed sophisticated weapons, including armed drones, raising concerns about the evolving tactics of militant groups operating in Nigeria’s North-east.
