KEY POINTS
- Boko Haram and ISWAP militants targeted Nigerian military in Borno.
- The raid left at least 16 soldiers dead and dozens injured.
- The insurgents are using drones and ground assaults in attacks.
 At least 16 people were killed in a coordinated attack by suspected Islamist militants on an army installation and a military outpost in northeastern Borno state, Nigeria, according to security sources who spoke to Reuters.
Suspected militants launch deadly attack on army base
Tens of thousands have been killed and displaced by attacks by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) on civilians and security personnel in northeastern Nigeria. At around 9 p.m. GMT on Monday, Boko Haram militants and ISWAP fighters launched the most recent attack on an army base in Borno state’s Wajiroko region, setting military hardware on fire, according to the sources. At least four soldiers, including the brigade commander, were killed, according to one Wajiroko brigade soldier, and numerous others were wounded.
Cameroon soldiers targeted in cross-border assault
Additionally, Cameroon’s Defense Ministry reported Wednesday that 12 troops had been killed and 12 others were injured when armed militants in light tactical vehicles overran an outpost in Wulgo, a community located roughly 7.5 miles from the Cameroonian border town of Fotokol.
The raid, which targeted soldiers battling the insurgency as part of a multinational task force, took place between midnight and three in the morning local time on Tuesday, a military source who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters. According to the source, militants were suspected of using drones to conduct the attack at first, then moving forward with a ground invasion. According to Reuters, “they looted an important stockpile of weapons.”
Following the attack, social media users posted videos of burned patrol cars, destroyed buildings, and bloodied people on the ground. The videos could not be independently verified by Reuters.
Requests for comment from a Nigerian army official were not answered. Cyrille Serge Atonfack Guemo, a spokesman for the Cameroon army, acknowledged the attack but stated that the exact number of casualties was yet unknown.
In the Wajiroko attack, terrorists took control of an army advanced operation base, according to Makinta Modu, a member of a local militia that was enlisted to support the Nigerian army. Many of the ISWAP fighters who took control of the military base were killed by air force fighter jets that arrived for reinforcement at 10:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. GMT), according to Modu. Whether the army had taken back control of the base was unknown.
This year, Boko Haram and ISWAP have increased their attacks on military and civilian targets in Borno state, despite being weakened by previous military assaults and internal strife.
