|
Listen to article
|
Nigerian troops backed by air support killed at least 80 Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province fighters in a pre-dawn battle at a military base in northeastern Borno State on Wednesday, repelling an assault that deployed armed drones in an attempt to overrun an army position near the Niger border, the military said.
The attack occurred at approximately 12:50 a.m. and targeted the 68 Battalion Main Defensive Area in Mallam Fatori, in Abadam Local Government Area of Borno State, with insurgents advancing from the Duguri axis on foot while deploying multiple armed drones in a bid to breach the perimeter. Lt. Col. Sani Uba, spokesperson for the Joint Task Force North East under Operation Hadin Kai, said troops had anticipated the assault and responded with what he described as an “offensive-defensive” operation, engaging the attackers with ground fire and coordinated air support.
Through what Uba described as coordinated maneuver and superior situational awareness, the attackers were disrupted, routed, and eliminated in disarray, with no fewer than 80 fighters killed. Three senior commanders were among the dead, the military said, though their identities were not disclosed and the claim could not be independently verified. Nigeria’s Air Force carried out precision strikes during the engagement, while allied Nigerien jets pursued insurgents retreating toward the Arege area. Four Nigerian soldiers were wounded and evacuated for medical treatment.
The Nigerian Army released video footage Wednesday confirming the elimination of approximately 63 fighters — a figure that differed from the 80 reported in a subsequent Joint Task Force statement. Reuters was unable to reconcile the discrepancy. Recovered weapons included assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, machine guns, ammunition, improvised explosive devices, and components used in the construction of armed drones.
Wednesday’s engagement came just 48 hours after a devastating triple suicide bombing in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, that killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 100. The Maiduguri bombings, suspected to have been carried out by Boko Haram fighters under the command of a figure identified as Ali Ngulde, targeted three separate locations in one of the most heavily protected cities in Nigeria’s northeast. The Nigerian Army had issued a warning on March 16 that attacks were likely to intensify as the Ramadan period drew toward its end, citing historical patterns of insurgent activity around the Islamic holy month.
Read Also: ISWAP Commander Killed As Troops Strike Borno
In the days preceding Wednesday’s attack, ISWAP fighters had also launched coordinated assaults on military positions in Baga, Buratai, Damboa, and the Ajilari district of Maiduguri, compounding the picture of an emboldened insurgency testing government defenses across multiple fronts simultaneously.
The sustained offensive represents a notable tactical shift by the militant groups. For much of the past two years, Boko Haram and ISWAP have primarily targeted rural communities, aid workers, and civilian infrastructure. The concentration of attacks on military installations and a major urban center within a 72-hour window suggests a coordinated campaign intended to demonstrate operational reach.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in northeastern Nigeria since Boko Haram’s insurgency began in 2009, according to United Nations data. Analysts have said the government has not done enough to protect civilians caught in the conflict. Millions more have been displaced across Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states in what remains one of Africa’s most protracted and deadly insurgencies.
The United States sent troops to Nigeria last month to advise its military on counterinsurgency operations. That advisory mission, the first direct American military involvement in the Borno insurgency, followed a U.S. airstrike in December 2025 against an Islamic State affiliate in northwestern Nigeria that the Trump administration framed in terms of protecting Christian communities — a characterization the Nigerian government publicly rejected.
Read Also: ‘Convert To Islam Or Die’ — ISWAP Burns Down Christian Village
President Bola Tinubu, attending a state visit to the United Kingdom when the Maiduguri bombings occurred Monday, directed security chiefs to travel immediately to the northeast to take personal charge of operations. It was not immediately clear whether he had issued additional instructions following Wednesday’s Mallam Fatori engagement.
The military said exploitation operations were continuing to pursue and neutralize fleeing insurgents, with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms supporting ground forces in the field. It urged the public to disregard unverified reports about the incident. No group claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack by the time of publication.
