Extremists aligned with ISIS have captured a military base in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state after overnight clashes with troops, sources told AFP on Saturday.
Machine-gun wielding fighters from ISIS-affiliated Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked the base in the town of Marte in the Lake Chad area overnight Friday into Saturday, two sources said.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“The priority now is to reclaim the base from the terrorists and an operation is under way,” one of the sources said.
“We took a hit from ISWAP terrorists. They raided the base in Marte after a fierce battle.”
The second source said the army “incurred losses” but it was not yet clear how many people had died or the level of destruction inflicted by the insurgents.
Read more:
Boko Haram extremists in Nigeria kill seven villagers in Christmas eve attack
Suicide bomber kills three in Nigeria, security sources say
ISIS-affiliated militants kill soldiers in northeast Nigeria
ISWAP, which split from Boko Haram in 2016, maintains camps on islands in Lake Chad – where Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad meet – and the area is known to be group’s bastion.
Last week, the extremists attacked the Marte base but were repelled, prompting them to mobilize more fighters for the overnight raid, said the sources.
The raid was seen as a “fightback” after recent losses – troops recently overran ISWAP’s second largest camp in Talala village, said the sources.
In November last year, officials began the phased return of residents to Marte six years after they were pushed out by the extremists.
The town, 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the regional capital Maiduguri, was once considered the breadbasket of the Lake Chad region.
At least 36,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 2009 and violence has spread into neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition.
SHOW MORE
Last Update: Saturday, 16 January 2021 KSA 17:05 – GMT 14:05
