Suspected Boko Haram militants have seized a military base outside
Baga near Lake Chad after engaging troops in a fierce battle that lasted
several hours, witnesses said on Sunday.
“They (the militants) overwhelmed the troops and forced them to
abandon the base which the gunmen took over,” local resident Usman
Danssubdu told AFP after fleeing to neighbouring Chad following
Saturday’s raids.
The base is used by the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), which
was established in 1998 to battle cross-border crime but whose mandate
was expanded to fighting Boko Haram when the Islamist group emerged.
The force is made up of troops from Nigeria as well as Niger and Chad.
Hundreds of fear-stricken residents from Baga and five other towns
and villages have poured into neighbouring Chad to escape Boko Haram
raids on their homes on the shores of Lake Chad, witnesses said.
Residents of Kauyen Kuros, Mile 3, Mile 4, Baga, Doron-Baga and
Bundaram fled across the lake in fishing boats and canoes into Chad
following hours-long attacks on Saturday by hundreds of militants from
the Islamist group.
“We are now seeking refuge in Gubuwa, Kangallam and Kaiga villages
inside Chad near the border with Nigeria,” Dansubdu told AFP by
telephone from Gubuwa.
Suspected Boko Haram gunmen late Saturday also raided the town of
Babban Gida, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Damaturu, the capital of
neighbouring Yobe state, according to residents, who said they destroyed
several buildings.
Source: Vanguard
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