The security situation in the North-east continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate as news sources have confirmed a fresh Boko haram attack on a military base in Borno State, North-East Nigeria.
According to military sources the latest attack was the third assault on three different bases in less than a month.
Armed Boko haram fighters stormed the military base in Garunda Village, Borno State riding in trucks; the fighters killed 17 soldiers and 1 staff of Nigeria National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA and looted weapons and vehicles before falling back from the area.
The attack is the latest in a series of bloody Boko Haram assaults on military bases and convoys in North-eastern Nigeria. This has further highlighted the continued threat Boko haram Islamists pose to the region despite claims by the Nigerian government that the Terrorist group had been decimated and was incapable of large scale organised attacks.
Confirming the attack, a military source who asked for anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the incident said,
“Our troops came under attack from Boko Haram terrorists in Garunda last night. Unfortunately we lost 17 troops, 14 others were injured while an unspecified number is still unaccounted for.”
He also confirmed that the militants looted weapons and vehicles before fleeing the scene.
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Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) also confirmed the incident in a statement on Thursday.
Excerpts from the statement read, “A staff member, an excavator operator attached to the military was killed by Boko Haram yesterday in Damasak, Borno state”.
The Nigeria Military and the Federal Government continue to say they are on top of the situation despite the worsening security conditions in the country; especially in the North-east and Middle-belt where Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen hold sway.
Independent news sources have long since confirmed the presence of Islamic state fighters fresh from defeat in Iraq and Syria in North-east Nigeria.
These sources also confirmed the massing of at least 3500 foot soldiers of Boko haram in the Lake Chad region with fresh additions from Mali and Sudan.