Boko Haram Launches Fresh Attack on NE Nigerian City

Local Editor

Boko Haram militants Tuesday launched a renewed attack on Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria, just days after the military repelled an assault on the key city.

Residents said the tAKFIRIS arrived in the Moronti area of the city by river but were unable to advance further because of wide ditches and embankments dug by soldiers around the city limits.

They then began shelling Ajillari Cross, about three kilometers [two miles] away at about 12:45 am. There was no immediate word on damage or casualties.

"We were bombarded by RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] by Boko Haram from Moronti," Isa Mala, who lives in Ajillari Cross, said by telephone.

"We all left our homes for fear of being hit inside. It was dark so we could see the trajectory of the RPGs, which were red with heat' he continued.

Mala added, "Soon afterwards, we saw troops in trucks moving towards Moronti and then a fighter jet also deployed not long afterwards."

Kyari Bulunkutu, who lives near Mala, gave the same account and added: "At about two in the morning it was all over but I haven't been able to see whether there was any damage or casualties."

Boko Haram launched a similar attack nearby early Saturday, just hours after Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as Nigeria's new president and called the group "godless" and "mindless."

Buhari had pledged to move the military's counter-insurgency command center to Maiduguri, which is the capital of Borno state and has suffered the worst violence in the six-year insurgency.

The Takfiris were later suspected of a suicide attack at a mosque in the city Saturday, which killed 26 people and injured 28 others.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team