Boko Haram

A fresh attack by Boko Haram insurgents on a military base in Borno State has claimed the lives of 17 Nigerian soldiers and a staff of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

According to military sources, Thursday’s attack was the third assault on three different military bases in the country in less than a month.

The militants reportedly stormed the military base in Garunda village with gun trucks, killing the soldiers and the NEMA staff before carting away weapons and vehicles from the base.

The attack is the latest in a series of bloody assaults by the insurgents on military bases and convoys in north-eastern Nigeria, highlighting the continued threat the Islamist sect poses to the region despite claims by the Nigerian government that the terrorist group had been decimated and was incapable of organizing large scale attacks.

 Confirming the attack, a military source who asked for anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the incident said: “Our troops came under attack from Boko Haram terrorists in Garunda last night.

“Unfortunately we lost 17 troops, 14 others were injured while an unspecified number is still unaccounted for.”

The management of NEMA also confirmed the incident through a statement which it released on Thursday.

“A staff member, an excavator operator attached to the military was killed by Boko Haram yesterday in Damasak, Borno State,” excerpts from the statement read.