ABUJA, Jan 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 20 Nigerian soldiers have been reportedly killed in a suspected attack by fighters from the ISIL affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The attackers targeted an army base in the remote Malam-Fatori town in the northeastern Borno state on Friday, with a surviving soldier saying the attack lasted for more than three hours.
Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters mainly operate in Borno and have attacked both security forces and civilians, killing and displacing tens of thousands of people.
According to security sources and residents, a commanding officer was among those killed after ISWAP members arrived on gun trucks and attacked the Nigerian Army’s 149th Battalion in Malam-Fatori, gateway to the border with Niger.
“They rained bullets everywhere,” one of the surviving soldiers said by phone, adding that the troops were taken by surprise.
“We tried so much to repel the attacks and after more than three hours of gun duel, they overpowered us, killing our commanding officer, a lieutenant colonel,” the soldier said, declining to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media. — NNN-AGENCIES
