Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram/ISWAP fighters have struck Benisheikh town in Borno State for the second time in recent weeks, mounting a late-night assault on a key military installation along the busy Maiduguri–Damaturu corridor.
The attack, which erupted around 11 p.m. Tuesday, saw armed militants pushing toward the 29 Task Force Brigade of Operation Hadin Kai — the same base that came under siege on April 9, when Brigadier-General O.O. Braimah and a number of soldiers lost their lives. Benisheikh serves as the administrative seat of Kaga Local Government Area.
Military aircraft were subsequently spotted circling the skies over Maiduguri, the state capital roughly 75 kilometres away, signalling an elevated security response to the unfolding situation.
A Region Still Reeling
The renewed assault comes on the heels of another tragedy. The Nigerian Army recently confirmed that a commanding officer was killed in a separate terrorist attack in Monguno, also in Borno State. Six soldiers died alongside him.
In a statement, Lieutenant Colonel Sani Uba — Media Information Officer for Operation Hadin Kai’s Headquarters Joint Task Force — said troops engaged the assailants in intense combat and ultimately drove them back.
The commanding officer, the Army explained, died after his vehicle struck an Improvised Explosive Device, which proved fatal for him and six other personnel.
Uba expressed the military’s grief over the losses and saluted the courage of the fallen soldiers, pledging that their sacrifice would continue to drive the fight against insurgency in the Northeast.
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