Agency Report
Suspected Boko Haram terrorists killed four police officers and two civilian militiamen in an attack on a military base in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state on Wednesday; security sources told AFP.
The Boko Haram fighters in trucks fitted with machine guns launched a dawn raid on the army base in the town of Damboa, sparking intense fighting.
“We lost four mobile policemen and two civilian militia fighting alongside soldiers; during the fight with the terrorists,” said a military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A militia leader Ibrahim Liman confirmed the toll, after supporting soldiers during the attack.
Nigeria’s decade-long Boko Haram insurgency has killed 36,000 people and displaced two million others; inside the country, and spilled into neighbouring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.
Local resident Modu Malari said on Wednesday, March 4; the insurgents had attacked with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades; but were forced out from the town by troops after a fierce two-hour battle.
More than 50 residents were injured by shrapnels from grenades fired by the jihadists, he said; after some strayed into nearby homes.
Damboa lies on the fringe of Boko Haram’s Sambisa Forest stronghold; from where the group has launched repeated attacks on villages and military posts.
In November last year, at least 10 Nigerian soldiers were killed and nine injured in a Boko Haram ambush in Muchima village, outside Damboa.
Boko Haram’s campaign began in 2009 and has displaced more than 2.2 million people across Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon since; with no signs of slowing down despite counterattacks by a joint multinational force across borders.
Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), a Boko Haram faction, has also gone on a spree of violence; attacking military formations in those countries.
In Mali and Burkina Faso, groups such as the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin have followed suit, killing thousands of people in recent years.
