Troops hit back after Boko Haram rampage

NIGERIAN ground forces backed by air strikes are fighting to reclaim the town of Baga from militant group Boko Haram, which seized the northeastern town and a nearby military base, leaving hundreds dead.

Boko Haram fighters burnt Baga to the ground and razed at least 16 surrounding towns and villages this week, leading to fears of heavy casualties.

Some estimates put the death toll over the past week at more than 200.

“Since the first attack last weekend on Baga, security forces have been pursuing the militants,” government spokesman Mike Omeri said in a statement. “Security forces have deployed significant military assets and conducted air strikes.”

At least 100 people were killed when Boko Haram attacked Baga last weekend, according to the district head.

Witnesses who escaped to neighbouring towns and Borno state capital Maiduguri said the insurgents had razed many buildings and homes and killed dozens of civilians in subsequent raids this week.

Soldiers had fled the area after the nearby army base — the headquarters of a multinational force made up of troops from Chad, Niger and Cameroon — by Lake Chad was overrun.

Some 300km away, on Friday evening, gunfire, explosions and heavy artillery fire were heard on the outskirts of Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state.

“We can hear the artillery fire and then the ground shaking,” a Reuters cameraman said.

Boko Haram has been waging a five-year insurgency to carve out an Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria.

Omeri said the National Emergency Management Agency, working with the Red Cross, was providing humanitarian assistance to 2 000 people who had fled Baga.

About 2 000 more had crossed the border to Chad over the past week, prompting the country to call for international aid.

The insurgency killed more than 10 000 people last year, according to a count by the Council on Foreign Relations in November.

It is seen as a headache for President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of elections next month.

In the latest attack, dozens of Boko Haram fighters stormed Damaturu at sundown on Friday, firing indiscriminately, before they were intercepted by troops, residents said.

“The gunmen arrived firing guns and shouting ‘Allahu Akbar!’ ” said student Mukhtar Sani.

“All the streets are deserted. Everybody has moved indoors and all we hear are sounds of gunfire,” added resident Aishatu Bala.

Omeri said: “The government will not rest until Boko Haram is completely dismantled.”

Local government officials said that as many as 20 000 people had fled their homes in the Baga district and 560 were said to be stranded on an island on Lake Chad since last Saturday.

The UN refugee agency said 7 300 refugees had arrived in western Chad in the past 10 days after the Baga attack.

It is estimated that this has pushed up the number of refugees to more than 10 000.

The attack effectively gave Boko Haram control of all three frontiers of Borno state with neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, increasing fears of cross-border attacks.

Security analysts said this week that the militants were now in a better position to strike south towards Maiduguri, where the group was founded in 2002. —