Boko Haram Militants Seize Nigerian Town, Attack Army Base

… Over 5000 Nigerians flee to Cameroon

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – A fresh wave of insurgent violence has rocked northeastern Nigeria’s Borno state, with Boko Haram militants seizing a border town and forcing thousands to flee, followed days later by a deadly, high-tech assault on a nearby military base, authorities and residents reported Friday.

The back-to-back attacks highlight a severe and escalating threat from Islamist insurgents, who have intensified their campaign against both civilian populations and security forces this year.

The violence began last week Thursday when Boko Haram fighters stormed the border town of Kirawa. The assault forced the district head, Abdulrahman Abubakar, to abandon his palace, which was burned to the ground along with a military barracks and dozens of homes.

“I was left with no option but to flee to Cameroon,” Abubakar told Reuters by phone, echoing the flight of more than 5,000 residents who fled across the border or to the state capital, Maiduguri.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack, releasing a video that showed fighters torching the barracks while chanting “victory belongs to God.” The town was left deserted, with one resident, Dauda Hassan, confirming, “Boko Haram is in control.”

A week after the seizure of Kirawa, insurgents launched a separate, coordinated attack on military personnel in Ngamdu. The military said this assault involved rocket-propelled grenades, armed drones, and improvised explosive devices, killing four soldiers and wounding five others.

Reinforcements from the 29 Task Force Brigade helped repel the assault, which also damaged several armored vehicles. The military said its forces killed at least 15 attackers. The insurgents had planted multiple IEDs along a main supply route, temporarily halting all movement until military engineers could clear the explosives.

The consecutive attacks demonstrate the insurgents’ operational reach and audacity. Data compiled by conflict monitoring group ACLED shows a sharp rise in violence, with 333 attacks recorded in northeast Nigeria this year, rapidly approaching the total of 375 for all of last year.

The seizure of Kirawa follows a similar pattern from September 19, when Boko Haram overran a military barracks in the border town of Banki. Community leaders in Kirawa are now pleading for urgent military reinforcement, noting that local vigilantes are the only remaining security after a multinational task force withdrew from the area in August.