Nigerian troops have thwarted an Islamic State attack on a military formation in the volatile northeast, killing dozens of fighters, the army said on Thursday, June 27.
Fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province faction of Boko Haram in seven gun trucks and motorcycles stormed the base at Goniri, Yobe state on Wednesday evening, army spokesperson Sagir Musa said in a statement.
The ambush “resulted in the annihilation of dozens of terrorists,” while many fled with injuries, he said.
Five gun trucks, weapons and rounds of ammunition were recovered from the militants, while their motorcycles were destroyed.
Musa did not say if the military lost soldiers in the encounter.
On January 25, the army said that Nigerian soldiers had fought off a series of Boko Haram attacks in Yobe and neighboring Borno state. Earlier that month, Islamic State claimed attacks on Nigerian military bases in Sabon Gari and Buni Gari in Yobe state.
The jihadist group known as Boko Haram began its bloody insurgency in northeastern Nigeria in 2009, but it has since spread into neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military response. More than 27,000 people have been killed and two million others displaced, sparking a dire humanitarian crisis in the region.