Armed Militants Attack Nigerian Military Base, 20 Soldiers Killed

UNSPLASH/Ayanfe Olarinde ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Suspected Islamist militants killed 20 Nigerian soldiers, including a commander, after attacking a military base in a remote town in the northeastern state of Borno.

Boko Haram fighters and the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) are known to target security forces and civilians. Militants killed and displaced tens of thousands of people.

The last attack came on Friday, January 24, when ISWAP members arrived in armed trucks and attacked the army's 149th Battalion in the city of Malam-Fatori, the gateway to the border with Niger.

One of the soldiers who survived the attack told Reuters by telephone that troops were shocked when militants were "firing bullets everywhere".

"We tried our best to block the attack and after more than three hours of gunfire, they managed to beat us, killed our commander, a lieutenant colonel," the soldier said.

He said 20 soldiers were killed while several others were injured.

Residents leaving the city said some militants were seen on the Fatori Nights until Saturday night.

Malacca Bukar, a member of a local militia recruited to help the army, said militants were also burning buildings, forcing some residents to leave the city.

Despite being weakened by military attacks and internal clashes over the years, Boko Haram and ISWAP have stepped up attacks in Borno since the turn of the year, killing dozens of farmers and fishermen in a series of attacks.