In fierce fighting on Sunday that killed more than 200 combatants, Nigerian troops clashed with Islamic extremists who attacked Maiduguri, the biggest city in northeastern Nigeria, from three fronts.
At least 65 people were killed in Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri during an assault by Islamic insurgency group Boko Haram on the capital of Borno state, according to a local militia member.
Armed forced killed 56 militants, while nine soldiers died during the clashes as security forces, who where joined by vigilante militia groups, fended off a Boko Haram attempt to take the city, Hassan Ibrahim said by phone from Maiduguri. The assault was the first major fighting in the Borno capital since an attack on an army detention center in March last year.
Photo: Reuters
Military spokesman Major-General Chris Olukolade did not immediately respond to calls yesterday seeking comment. “Mopping-up operations” were ongoing after troops fortified control of the city, he said in an e-mailed statement on Sunday.
At the same time the insurgents continued scorched-earth attacks on villages about 200km to the south in Adamawa state, slitting throats of residents, looting and burning homes, and abducting dozens of trapped women and children, according to Vandu Kainu and other escaping survivors.
Adamawa state legislator Adamu Kamale appealed for troops to protect civilians in Michika, where six villages are under attack.
“The attacks have continued since Friday with no presence of security operatives,” he said.
The multiple attacks come as US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital more than 1,500km southwest of Maiduguri, to encourage peaceful elections on Feb. 14 in Africa’s most populous nation.
“This will be the largest democratic election on the continent,” Kerry said. “Given the stakes, it’s absolutely critical that these elections be conducted peacefully — that they are credible, transparent and accountable.”
Kerry met with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and his chief rival candidate, former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari. Kerry told reporters afterward that he won pledges from both parties to refrain from violence.
He also issued a warning: Anyone responsible for inciting post-election mayhem will be barred entry to the US, where millions of Nigerians live.
Kerry promised more US support in the fight against Boko Haram if the elections take place peacefully and democratically.
More than 800 people were killed in northern protests after Buhari, a Muslim northerner, lost the 2011 elections to Jonathan, a Christian from the south.
Boko Haram has denounced democracy and wants to make an Islamic state of Nigeria, whose population of about 170 million is divided almost equally between Muslims in the north and Christians in the south.
In Maiduguri, troops blocked roads into the city, which also prevented civilians from escaping.
Ministry of Defense spokesman Brigadier General Chris Olukolade said on Sunday evening that troops successfully repelled attacks on Maiduguri and Konduga, 40km to the southeast.
However, he said they were mounting air raids in Monduno, a town 140km northeast of Maiduguri, which Boko Haram seized on Sunday morning.
More than 200 combatants died on Sunday, mainly insurgents, according to soldiers and civilian self-defense fighters who counted bodies. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to reporters.
Jonathan made a surprise visit to Maiduguri 10 days ago and pledged to crush the insurgents, but his repeated promises are ringing hollow as Boko Haram since August has seized and kept control of large swaths of the northeast, including key border crossings into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
With encouragement from the UN, Nigeria and its neighbors are setting up a multinational force to fight the extremists, who recently have increased cross-border raids into Cameroon.
However, there is distrust of Nigeria’s military, which many believe is infiltrated by Boko Haram at the highest levels.
The Maiduguri attack is not unexpected. Boko Haram on Jan. 3 seized a key military base and Baga town on the border with Cameroon, killing hundreds of civilians and leaving the main road open to Maiduguri. The military said they were counter-attacking a week ago, but escaping civilians said there was no fighting and the insurgents retain their control.
Maiduguri is the birthplace of Boko Haram and has been attacked many times in the 5-year Islamic insurgency that killed 10,000 people last year.
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