Nigerian troops repelled an attack on a military base in northeastern Borno state in which a soldier was killed and four others were injured, military and militia sources told AFP Saturday.

On Wednesday jihadists from IS-affiliated Islamic State West Africa Province killed three soldiers when they temporarily seized control of another base in the town of Kareto, 200 kilometres away.

In the latest attack on Friday, the jihadists in several trucks carrying anti-aircraft guns attacked a base in the Kekeno village near the garrison town of Monguno, the sources said.

The militants were pushed back after a prolonged fight that lasted almost three hours with aerial support and reinforcements from Monguno.

"The terrorists made desperate efforts to overrun the base but were pushed back after heavy fighting," a military officer in Maiduguri said.

"Unfortunately we lost one soldier in the encounter and four others sustained injuries," the officer, who asked not to be named, added.

There was no indication of Boko Haram casualties.

Details of the attack were slow to emerge as telecommunications infrastructure has been destroyed by fighting and there are strict controls on movement in rural Borno state.

"The insurgents could not enter the base despite their number and heavy weapons," said a civilian militia fighting the jihadists who gave a similar account.

"I learnt one soldier was killed and a few others were wounded," the militia said,

Residents of Kekeno fled to Monguno following the attack, Monguno resident Adamu Sheriff said.

"Boko Haram attacked Kekeno around 5:30 pm (1630GMT) and engaged soldiers for almost three hours before they were forced out", said Sheriff who arrived Maiduguri on Saturday.

It was the second attempt by Boko Haram to takeover the base in two months.

In September the jihadists made a failed attempt to seize the Kekeno base and were pushed back after hours-long battle.

The Nigerian military said on Saturday the spokesman of an IS-affiliated Boko Haram jihadists faction was killed in the encounter with government troops.

In a statement on its Twitter account the military said Sale Ahmad Sale alias Baban Hassan identified as a member of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) was killed in a joint operation by the army and air force.

"The killing of the media leader is indicative of efforts by the NA (Nigerian army) to eliminate key members of the sect," the statement said.

The military did not say when the joint opearation was conducted.

In September 2012 soldiers shot dead Boko Haram spokesman Abul Qaqa at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kano after he was tracked down through his phone signal.

The leader of Boko Haram offshoot Ansaru was also killed in a raid on his hideout in Kano around the same time.

Gali's death brings to three the number of Boko Haram's media commanders to be killed in the group's nine-year armed campaign to establish a hardline Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

In a December 2016 recording Boko Haram factional leader Abubakar Shekau said he executed the group's spokesman Abu Zinnira over a plot to oust him as the leader.

In recent months, Boko Haram has carried out repeated attacks on military bases in Borno state, although the army has strongly denied reports of heavy troop casualties.

Nigerian authorities maintain the group, whose insurgency has left more than 27,000 dead since 2009, is on the verge of defeat despite an upsurge in attacks in recent months. </s> Members of the Takfiri Boko Haram terrorist group have carried out multiple attacks on military bases in northeast Nigeria, seizing three of them and stealing weapons.

Militants of the terror group have invaded four bases in the volatile Borno State from Friday through Sunday in the recent series of attacks targeting the army, military sources said on Monday.

There were no immediate reports about possible casualties.

In the latest assault on Sunday, the militants failed to seize a base in the town of Dikwa, located in Borno State, following a predawn attack.

"The terrorists attacked troops in Dikwa around 4:00 a.m. (0300 GMT) but the attack was repelled without casualty on our side," said a military officer, who did not want to be identified.

The assailants were driving 13 trucks fitted with heavy machine guns, said a second officer.

On Saturday, the militants stormed a base in the town of Marte, which lies 40 kilometers away from Dikwa, forcing soldiers to withdraw after a long gunfight, the two military sources said.

As the soldiers retreated to Dikwa, the militants invaded another base in Kirenowa village, located 30 kilometers from Marte.

Troops in a base in Dalwa village, 16 kilometers outside Borno State’s capital of Maiduguri, were pushed out after a six-hour battle with the militants which continued into Sunday, said the military sources.

The fighting forced Marte residents to flee into Maiduguri, arriving in trucks on Sunday, according to residents of the city.

However, troops returned to the town late Sunday with reinforcement from Maiduguri, the sources said.

The Boko Haram terror group has since July last year targeted dozens of military bases in attacks that have left scores of troopers dead.

Boko Haram’s nine-year militancy is estimated to have killed more than 27,000 people and forced 1.8 million others to flee their homes.

Boko Haram’s sphere of activities spreads as far as neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

These countries have created a joint military force to stop the terrorists from further spreading, but sustained efforts to eradicate the militants have failed and the military continues to suffer heavy losses. </s> As many as seven suicide bombers, six of them women, have blown themselves up while trying to attack the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, according to emergency services officials.

Initial reports from Maiduguri had suggested a number of people were killed in the blasts near the Muna camp for displaced people shortly before 11:30pm (22:30 GMT) on Thursday.

But Mohammed Kanar, from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said on Friday there were no civilian or military casualties, as the would-be bombers arrived after the 10pm (21:00 GMT) curfew.

"People were indoors. There was no one on the streets," Kanar, who is NEMA's northeast coordinator, told AFP news agency.

"None of the six female bombers succeeded in their attacks. They ended up being killed in the explosions."

A man who dropped them off in his car then tried to ram a military checkpoint was also unsuccessful.

"He died in the process," said Kanar, referring to the man.

Similar account

Hamed Satomi, from the Borno state emergency management agency, gave a similar account, although he said there were only six bombers.

Both organisations were involved in the recovery of the bodies, they said.

The Borno state police had earlier said only one bomber was involved and that he had detonated his explosives among 13 trucks waiting to travel to the east of the state near the Cameroon border.

Victor Isuku, police spokesman, attributed the multiple explosions heard in Maiduguri to soldiers shelling suspected Boko Haram fighters outside the city limits.

The attempted attacks came after the departure of a high-ranking delegation of foreign officials to Maiduguri as part of efforts to secure greater funding to help those made homeless by the conflict.

Reports from the city also said a number of Nigerian air force aircraft were shot at in the remote region on Thursday.

'Technically defeated'

The incidents underline the continued threat from Boko Haram, which Nigeria's military maintains is in disarray after nearly eight years of fighting and at least 20,000 deaths.

Despite the insistence that Boko Haram is "technically defeated", there have been multiple suicide bombings against civilian targets, as well as attacks on police and soldiers.

The thousands of people living at the Muna Garage camp are especially vulnerable, given the lack of security and easy access to the site.

A multinational force of troops from Nigeria and its neighbours last year drove Boko Haram out of towns and villages in northeast Nigeria, but isolated attacks and suicide bombings continue.

In December, President Muhammadu Buhari said the capture of a key camp marked the "final crushing" of Boko Haram in its last enclave in Sambisa Forest, once the group's stronghold.

But since then, the group, which split into two factions last year, has stepped up its attacks.

One Boko Haram faction is led by Abubakar Shekau from the Sambisa Forest. Abu Musab al-Barnawi leads the other faction, based in the Lake Chad region, which allies itself to Islamic State or Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

Boko Haram's seven-year armed campaign has killed 15,000 people and forced up to two million from their homes. </s> Nigerian troops repelled an attack on a military base in northeastern Borno state in which a soldier was killed and four others were injured, military and militia sources told AFP Saturday.

On Wednesday jihadists from IS-affiliated Islamic State West Africa Province killed three soldiers when they temporarily seized control of another base in the town of Kareto, 200 kilometres away.

In the latest attack on Friday, the jihadists in several trucks carrying anti-aircraft guns attacked a base in the Kekeno village near the garrison town of Monguno, the sources said.

The militants were pushed back after a prolonged fight that lasted almost three hours with aerial support and reinforcements from Monguno.

"The terrorists made desperate efforts to overrun the base but were pushed back after heavy fighting," a military officer in Maiduguri said.

"Unfortunately we lost one soldier in the encounter and four others sustained injuries," the officer, who asked not to be named, added.

There was no indication of Boko Haram casualties.

Details of the attack were slow to emerge as telecommunications infrastructure has been destroyed by fighting and there are strict controls on movement in rural Borno state.

"The insurgents could not enter the base despite their number and heavy weapons," said a civilian militia fighting the jihadists who gave a similar account.

"I learnt one soldier was killed and a few others were wounded," the militia said,

Residents of Kekeno fled to Monguno following the attack, Monguno resident Adamu Sheriff said.

"Boko Haram attacked Kekeno around 5:30 pm (1630GMT) and engaged soldiers for almost three hours before they were forced out", said Sheriff who arrived Maiduguri on Saturday.

It was the second attempt by Boko Haram to takeover the base in two months.

In September the jihadists made a failed attempt to seize the Kekeno base and were pushed back after hours-long battle.

In recent months, Boko Haram jihadists have carried out repeated attacks on military bases in the northern part of Borno, although the military has strongly denied reports of heavy troop casualties.

The authorities maintain the group, whose insurgency has left more than 27,000 dead since 2009, is on the verge of defeat, despite the ongoing violence. </s> Boko Haram jihadists have carried out multiple attacks on military bases in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state, overrunning three of them and stealing weapons, security sources said Monday.

Fighters believed to be from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the IS-linked faction of Boko Haram, stormed four bases from Friday through Sunday in the latest spate of attacks targeting the army, sources from the military and militia said.

There were no immediate details on casualties.

In the latest incident, on Sunday, the insurgents made a failed attempt to seize a base in the town of Dikwa following a predawn attack.

“The terrorists attacked troops in Dikwa around 4:00 am (0300 GMT) but the attack was repelled without casualty on our side,” a military officer, who did not want to be identified, told AFP.

The fighters came in 13 trucks fitted with heavy machine guns, said a second officer, who gave a similar account.

Dikwa which lies 90 kilometres (56 miles) from the state capital Maiduguri, is home to more than 70,000 displaced people who live in several camps where they rely on food and humanitarian assistance from aid agencies.

Late on Saturday, the jihadists blasted into a base in the town of Marte, 40 kilometres away, pushing troops out after a prolonged gunfight, the two military sources said.

The militants ransacked the base, carting away weapons abandoned by fleeing soldiers and setting fire to it. The soldiers withdrew to Dikwa.

As they retreated towards Lake Chad, the Islamist fighters sacked another base in Kirenowa village, 30 kilometres from Marte.

Soldiers evacuated

“The soldiers in Kirenowa have been evacuated to Dikwa after the attack by the terrorists”, the first officer said.

The jihadists were believed to have launched the attacks from their Lake Chad enclave where the Nigerian military has intensified aerial attacks on ISWAP camps.

Troops in a base in Dalwa village, 16 kilometres outside Maiduguri, were dislodged after a six-hour battle with ISWAP fighters which continued into Sunday, said the military sources and an anti-jihadist militia.

The fighting forced Marte residents to flee into Maiduguri, arriving in trucks on Sunday, according to residents of the city.

However, troops returned to the town late Sunday with reinforcement from Maiduguri, the sources said.

ISWAP has since July last year targeted dozens of military bases in attacks that have left scores of soldiers dead.

Boko Haram’s decade-long insurgency has killed 27,000 people and displaced about two million in Nigeria.

The violence has spilled over into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to defeat the Islamist group. </s> This is believed to be the first time Nigeria's military has admitted to making such a mistake. Villagers in the past have reported some civilian casualties in near-daily bombardments in northeastern Nigeria.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria: A Nigerian Air Force fighter jet on a mission against Boko Haram extremists mistakenly bombed a refugee camp Tuesday, killing more than 100 refugees and wounding aid workers, a Borno state official said.

The state government official was helping to coordinate the evacuation of wounded. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Military commander Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor confirmed the accidental bombardment in northeast Rann, near the border with Cameroon. Among the wounded were two soldiers and Nigerians working for Doctors Without Borders and the International Committee of the Red Cross, he said.

This is believed to be the first time Nigeria's military has admitted to making such a mistake. Villagers in the past have reported some civilian casualties in near-daily bombardments in northeastern Nigeria.

Irabor said he ordered the mission based on information that Boko Haram insurgents were gathering, along with geographic coordinates. It was too early to say if a tactical error was made, he said.

The general, who is the theater commander for counterinsurgency operations in northeast Nigeria, said the Air Force would not deliberately target civilians but there will be an investigation.

Some of the nearly 300 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 and freed last year have said three of their classmates were killed by Air Force bombardments, according to the freed girls' parents. </s> Kano — Boko Haram jihadists have attacked military bases in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state, overrunning three and stealing weapons, security sources said on Monday.

Fighters thought to be from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the IS-linked faction of Boko Haram, stormed four bases from Friday to Sunday in the latest spate of attacks on the army, said military and militia sources.

There were no immediate details on casualties.

In the latest incident on Sunday, insurgents launched a predawn attack in an unsuccessful bid to seize a base in the town of Dikwa.

“The terrorists attacked troops in Dikwa around 4am but the attack was repelled without casualty on our side,” said an army officer, who did not want to be identified.

The fighters arrived in 13 trucks fitted with heavy machine guns, said a second officer, who gave a similar account.

Dikwa, 90km from the state capital Maiduguri, is home to more than 70,000 displaced people in several camps where they rely on food and humanitarian assistance from aid agencies.

Late on Saturday, the jihadists blasted into a base in the town of Marte, 40km away, pushing troops out after a long gunfight, the two military sources said. The militants ransacked the base, carting away weapons abandoned by fleeing soldiers and torched the base. The soldiers withdrew to Dikwa.

As they retreated towards Lake Chad, the Islamist fighters ransacked another base in Kirenowa village, 30km from Marte.

“The soldiers in Kirenowa have been evacuated to Dikwa after the attack by the terrorists,” the first officer said.

The jihadists were thought to have launched the attacks from their Lake Chad enclave where the Nigerian military has intensified aerial attacks on ISWAP camps.

Troops in a base in Dalwa village, 16km from Maiduguri, were dislodged after a six-hour battle with ISWAP fighters, which continued into Sunday, said military and anti-jihadist militia sources.

The fighting forced Marte residents to flee into Maiduguri, arriving in trucks on Sunday, according to residents. Troops returned to the town late on Sunday with reinforcements from Maiduguri, the sources said.

ISWAP has since July 2018 targeted dozens of military bases in attacks that killed scores of soldiers. Boko Haram’s decade-long insurgency has killed 27,000 people and displaced about 2-million in Nigeria.

The violence has spilled into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the Islamist group. </s> Boko Haram terrorists have attacked Nigerian troops in Damasak town of Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno State.

A top military source who spoke to SaharaReporters said the attack was carried out on a military base at about 7 pm on Saturday.

The insurgents launched the attack on the Special Forces Base from the Southern part of Damasak while exchanging fire with troops for about an hour.

The online newspaper had on June 14 detailed plans of an impending attack Nigerian soldiers in Damasak, Mallam Fatori, Magumeri, Gubio and Fuchimiram areas of Borno State.

According to the report, the Boko Haram terrorists who are planning the attacks were taking refuge in Fuchimiram village, 6 kilometres West of Kareto Village where they carried out a deadly attack on June 12, 2019.

The army has yet to confirm the development. </s> KANO: Boko Haram jihadists have carried out multiple attacks on military bases in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state, overrunning three of them and stealing weapons, security sources said Monday.

Fighters believed to be from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the IS-linked faction of Boko Haram, stormed four bases from Friday through Sunday in the latest spate of attacks targeting the army, sources from the military and militia said.

There were no immediate details on casualties. In the latest incident, on Sunday, the insurgents made a failed attempt to seize a base in the town of Dikwa following a predawn attack. “The terrorists attacked troops in Dikwa around 4:00 am (0300 GMT) but the attack was repelled without casualty on our side,” a military officer, who did not want to be identified, told AFP.

The fighters came in 13 trucks fitted with heavy machine guns, said a second officer, who gave a similar account. Dikwa which lies 90 kilometres (56 miles) from the state capital Maiduguri, is home to more than 70,000 displaced people who live in several camps where they rely on food and humanitarian assistance from aid agencies.

Late on Saturday, the jihadists blasted into a base in the town of Marte, 40 kilometres away, pushing troops out after a prolonged gunfight, the two military sources said. The militants ransacked the base, carting away weapons abandoned by fleeing soldiers and setting fire to it. The soldiers withdrew to Dikwa. As they retreated towards Lake Chad, the Islamist fighters sacked another base in Kirenowa village, 30 kilometres from Marte.
Boko Haram storms multiple military bases in the Nigerian state of Borno. Casualties are unknown.