Troops currently on counter-insurgency fight in Borno had to run for their lives on Friday when Boko Haram jihadists overran a military base in the state.
This came days after a similar attack on a military base in Mararrabar Kimba, 135 kilometres from Maiduguri where no fewer than 30 soldiers went missing, and five more found dead.
Herald Nigeria gathered that fighters from the IS-affiliated Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in trucks and on motorcycles invaded the base in Magumeri, a town 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Borno state capital Maiduguri.
“The terrorists dislodged troops from the base after an intense fight,” a military officer told AFP.
“We lost weapons and equipment to the terrorists but it is not clear if there was any human loss,” said the officer, who asked not to be named.
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The jihadists arrived in the town around 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) and engaged troops in an hour-long fight before they “gained the upper hand and chased the troops away,” militia leader Gremah Kaka told AFP.
“The insurgents overpowered the soldiers and forced them to flee into the bush,” he said.
According to him, the jihadists stayed in the base for “more than four hours” before they were dislodged by reinforcements from another base in Gubio, 46 kilometres away.