Nigerian troops repel first attack in years on northern city Maiduguri

2026-03-16 - 12:08

Suspected jihadists launched an overnight attack on a Nigerian military post on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the first in years in the capital of northeastern Borno state, police, emergency services and residents said Monday. Fighters from Boko Haram and rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have recently stepped up attacks on military bases in northeast Nigeria. Their 16-year campaign to establish a caliphate in the country has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million. The attack occurred around midnight in the Ajilari Cross district, a southwestern suburb of Maiduguri and just a few kilometres (miles) from the city’s airport. Residents and emergency services said the military quickly repelled the attackers. The neighbourhood was calm on Monday morning, AFP journalists saw. Police spokesman Nahum Kenneth Daso posted on X that there were reports of a “foiled attack by suspected BH/ISWAP terrorists around Ajilari Cross” as he also confirmed a separate incident where security forces thwarted a “suspected terrorist attack” in Damboa local government area, south of Maiduguri. An emergency services spokesman in Borno state told AFP they had received “reports of attacks” by non-state armed groups and that they were “repelled by the military”, with no civilian casualties reported. Residents reported four deaths on the attackers’ side. “At about 12:15 am this morning, we started hearing gunshots coming from the military base. Later, we realised it was an attack by insurgents believed to be Boko Haram,” Ajilari Cross resident Mustapha Aminu told AFP. “We counted four corpses of the attackers,” he said. Another resident Yakaka Ali Gana said: “This is the first time attackers have stormed our community and attacked the military base.” The military has yet to comment. Once the scene of shootings and bombings, with attacks peaking in the mid-2010s, Maiduguri has been calm in recent years. The last major attack dates back to 2021, when Boko Haram jihadists fired mortars at the city, killing 10 people. In December, an unclaimed bombing killed at least seven people in a city mosque.