At least three Nigerian military commanding officers were killed in separate insurgent attacks on forward operating bases in Borno State within a week, underscoring the persistent threat posed by Boko Haram and ISWAP.
At least three commanding officers of the Nigerian military have been killed in separate attacks by insurgents on forward operating bases in Borno State within a seven-day period. The incidents, linked to fighters from Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province, bring to seven the number of commanding officers and one brigadier general reportedly killed in the last three months amid ongoing counter-insurgency operations in the region.
According to media reports, the latest casualties include Major U.I. Mairiga, who headed the Mayenti base; Lt-Col Umar Faruq, commander of the Kukawa base and the 101 Brigade; and Lt-Col S.I. Iliyasu, who served in Konduga. Findings indicate that most of the deaths occurred during attacks on military bases or ambushes by insurgents during clearance operations across high-risk areas such as the Sambisa Forest, Timbuktu Triangle, the Mandara Mountains and the Lake Chad Basin in Borno State.
The latest incident occurred on Monday, March 9, when insurgents overran a military camp in Kukawa Local Government Area, killing Lt-Col Umar Faruq alongside several soldiers. Local sources said the attackers stormed the base around midnight. “They stormed the town from multiple directions and launched an assault on the military camp. They dislodged the troops, set vehicles ablaze and carted away ammunition,” a security source said. The spokesman of Operation Hadin Kai, Lt-Col Sani Uba, confirmed that a gallant officer was killed in the attack but did not disclose his identity.
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