Eight Nigerian soldiers feared dead as Boko Haram attack military base in Borno

At least eight soldiers of the Nigerian army have been killed in an attack by suspected members of Boko Haram on a military base near the Buratai-Mandara Road in Borno State.

According to sources from the military side, the attack was carried out in the early hours of Friday under conditions of intense rain, which apparently gave cover to the suspects while executing their plans.

Our source from inside the military base disclosed that some other soldiers were injured during the attack.

In a statement to our correspondent, a military source disclosed that the attackers captured sections of the military formation and went on to launch a vicious attack on the forces stationed there.

The incident comes as part of a recent chain of attacks on security forces in the North East, where the forces are fighting Boko Haram and other insurgents in the region.

While no statement has been issued regarding the casualty toll from the attack, military sources stated that efforts are being made to understand the situation and tighten security in the area.

“162 Battalion Mandara Buratai Road, eight soldiers were killed in action. They attacked us at 4 a.m. today (Friday) when it was raining,” the source said.

Another military source told our correspondence that the attackers overran parts of the facility and carried out a brutal assault on troops stationed there.

“They killed eight soldiers and beheaded them. Several others were injured during the attack,” the source said.

This newspaper gathered that the terrorists stormed the military position in large numbers, catching the troops off guard amid the bad weather conditions.

Security sources added that reinforcement teams had been deployed to the area following the attack, while efforts were ongoing to assess the full extent of casualties and recover the base.

Our correspondence also obtained gory footage and images from the scene showing the aftermath of the assault, confirming the scale of the incident, though officials have yet to issue an official statement.

The latest attack adds to a series of renewed assaults by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters targeting military formations in the North-East, despite ongoing counterinsurgency operations by the Nigerian military.