MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (SCANS) — Suspected Islamist militants launched a coordinated midnight raid on a military base in the northeast Nigerian town of Pulka, killing at least nine soldiers and leaving several others missing, security and local sources said Sunday.
The assault, which occurred between midnight and 2 a.m. Sunday in the Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State, is the latest in a series of attacks attributed to either Boko Haram or the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), both of which operate in the region.
According to a Nigerian Army officer who survived the attack, the insurgents caught troops off guard.
“At about 4:50 a.m., I saw the bodies of two of my colleagues we had been working with here in Pulka,” Ibrahim said, adding that several of the wounded were evacuated to Maiduguri, the state capital, for emergency treatment.
The casualty count kept rising
While two soldiers were confirmed dead at the scene, medical personnel in Maiduguri reported that five of the 13 wounded soldiers transported there later succumbed to their injuries. Military and Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) sources stated that additional bodies were recovered during a sweep of the area, bringing the provisional death toll to nine.
Bashir Adamu, a member of the CJTF, said the fighters briefly overran portions of the facility, seizing firearms and bicycles before retreating.
Local hunter Umaru Idi reported that the assailants set fire to several rooms within the compound, destroyed a military vehicle, and burned three nearby road construction vehicles.
The attackers targeted civilian infrastructure
Residents reported that gunmen looted medicines from a recently renovated hospital and set an ambulance on fire before fleeing.
Reinforcements from nearby Gwoza arrived later Sunday morning, engaging the insurgents in a gun battle and eventually reclaiming control of the town. Security has since been reinforced in Pulka with increased patrols.
The Nigerian military has not yet released an official statement regarding the exact casualty figures or the specific group suspected of the attack.
The 15-year insurgency in northeast Nigeria has killed an estimated 35,000 people and displaced more than 2 million, according to United Nations data, as the government continues to struggle with maintaining stability in remote border regions.
