Boko Haram insurgents have killed two Nigerian soldiers and forced several others to flee into Cameroon after a fierce pre-dawn assault on a military base in the border town of Rann, Kala Balge Local Government Area. The militants reportedly arrived in the early hours of Monday, heavily armed, and stormed the Nigerian Army’s CIO Battalion, engaging troops in an intense gun battle that left the base in chaos.
According to military sources, the attackers set armoured tanks ablaze and made away with an unspecified quantity of ammunition. In the midst of the fighting, some soldiers abandoned their positions and crossed into Cameroon with their weapons in a desperate bid to survive. One source described the incident as another devastating blow to frontline troops, confirming that two soldiers were killed on the spot while several others sustained injuries.
The Rann attack comes only a few months after a similar tragedy in Malam-Fatori, Abadam Local Government Area, where 22 soldiers, including a senior commander, lost their lives in a Boko Haram raid. These incidents add to a long list of deadly clashes in Nigeria’s North-East, where insurgents have been waging war against the state since 2009. The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions, particularly in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states.
Despite repeated assurances from military authorities that the terrorists have been largely defeated, Boko Haram and its splinter groups continue to launch lethal assaults on military bases and civilian communities. Nigerian soldiers on the front lines have repeatedly complained of inadequate weapons and resources, accusing their superiors of leaving them outgunned and vulnerable against the heavily armed insurgents. For many residents of the region, the latest attack is yet another grim reminder that the fight against Boko Haram is far from over, and that safety remains a distant hope in communities caught in the crossfire.