At least 10 soldiers and four civilians are feared dead following a coordinated attack by suspected Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters on a military base in Mairari, Borno State.
The attack occurred last Tuesday in Guzamala Local Government Area, about 120 to 130 kilometres north of Maiduguri, the state capital.
Security sources said the insurgents stormed the military formation in large numbers, engaging troops in a fierce gunbattle that lasted several hours.
Although troops reportedly repelled the attackers and neutralised scores of them, the insurgents were said to have inflicted heavy casualties and destroyed military equipment, including gun trucks and operational vehicles belonging to the military and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF).
“More than 10 soldiers and four civilians have reportedly been killed after suspected fighters of the Islamic State-backed faction attacked the military formation,” a security source said on condition of anonymity.
Ali Bukar Mairari, a resident who fled the scene, corroborated the accounts, saying more than 11 people were killed and several operational vehicles were set ablaze during the attack.
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The Executive Chairman of Guzamala Local Government Area, Lawan Sheriff, also confirmed the incident but declined to provide specific casualty figures.
Reports of the attack were delayed because the remote area has no telecommunications network, making it difficult for information to reach the public. SearchGuides
The assault came amid another recent security incident in the wider Lake Chad region, where terrorists reportedly seized more than 40 locally made fishing boats from fishermen in Tumbun Barebari, also known as Abujan Ruwa.
Mairari is strategically important as one of the few towns in the area to have survived repeated Boko Haram attacks. It temporarily served as the Guzamala Area Council headquarters after the insurgents captured the official headquarters in Gudumbali.
The continued presence of insurgents in Gudumbali remains a source of frustration for local leaders.
The Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abdulkarim Lawan, who hails from Guzamala, has repeatedly criticised the failure of security agencies to recapture the council headquarters, saying his appeals have yet to produce the desired military action.
Efforts to obtain an official response from the Borno State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Kenneth Daso, were unsuccessful, as calls and messages to him went unanswered at the time of filing this report.
The military high command has yet to release an official casualty figure or a formal statement on the Mairari attack, as security operations and reinforcement efforts continue in the troubled northern fringes of the Lake Chad region.