No fewer than nineteen soldiers, including a commander, have been killed in an attack at the military base in Malam-Fatori at Abadam local government area of Borno State.
Malam-Fatori is a border town, two kilometres from the Nigerien border community, Bosso.
Sources reported that the attackers, who stormed the Malam-Fatori military base, wreaked havoc for several hours on Friday, before dislodging the 149 Battalion. Survivors of the deadly attack reportedly fled to safety.
Intelligence sources confirmed to newsmen that the insurgents arrived at the base in multiple gun trucks, razing several buildings and military operational vehicles during the assault.
According to a source: “Many soldiers were seriously injured while several other personnel have gone missing. The commanding officer of the battalion, a Lieutenant-Colonel, two senior officers, including the base medical director, were among those killed in the attack”.
149 Taskforce Brigade Malam-Fatori is located two kilometres from the Nigerien border town of Bosso in Lake Chad, where the insurgents are currently hibernating.
A military source told newsmen that the attack on the military base happened when troops were on routine operations in the Timbuktu triangle, from where they drove into an ambush that resulted in the death of the Commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Alari.
The Nigerian Army Defence Headquarters (DHQ) and the other authorities have not commented on the latest attack.
Recall that the Islamic State West Africa Province, (ISWAP), split from the mainstream Boko Haram in 2016 to become the dominant militant faction in the North -East. They seized territory hitherto under Boko Haram control, including the Timbuktu Triangle and Sambisa forest, a Game Reserve turned jihadist stronghold. The group is notorious for planting roadside mines and rigging vehicles with explosives to target troops. Last July, seven troops were killed when their vehicle hit a landmine in a village where ISWAP is active.
The 15-year-old conflict has killed 40,000 and displaced around two million from their homes in the North-East region.
The violence spilled into neighbouring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, leading to the creation of a regional force to fight the militants.
