By Ahmed Kingimi
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) – At least four Nigerian soldiers were killed when suspected Islamist fighters launched coordinated attacks on two military bases in northeastern Borno State, security sources told Reuters.
Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters have mainly operated in the northeast of Nigeria, attacking security forces and civilians, in the process killing and displacing tens of thousands of people.
In the latest assault, Boko Haram insurgents and ISWAP fighters attacked an army base in the Wajiroko area of Borno State at about 2100 GMT on Monday and set military equipment on fire.
One of the soldiers in the Wajiroko brigade said by phone that at least four soldiers had been killed and several others injured, including the brigade commander.
Around the same time militants attacked a separate army formation in the town of Wulgo on the border with Cameroon. The number of casualties in that attack is not known.
A Nigerian army spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
Makinta Modu, a member of the local militia recruited to help the army, said that 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 since the turn of the year.
An Islamist insurgency has plagued the northeast of Africa’s most populous country for more than a decade, while kidnapping and banditry are rampant in the northwest and gang and separatist violence is common in the southeast.
(Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha, Editing by William Maclean)
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