Many feared dead in Boko Haram fresh assault

Boko Haram fighters on Sunday launched a fresh attempt to take over the strategically crucial northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, Borno State, just two weeks before the general election.

Four residents told AFP that Sunday’s fighting began at roughly 3:00am (0200 GMT) with loud explosions and gunfire, as the insurgents tried to enter the city from the south.

After heavy fighting in the Mulai area just three kilometres south of the city, troops backed by vigilantes repelled the attack, but the militants then began a separate assault to the east and gun battles were ongoing, multiple witnesses said.

At least ten civilians were  killed in Maiduguri early this morning as Boko Haram militants attack the city of Maiduguri with Rocket Propelled Grenades and heavy weapons. Several homes were damaged in the fierce fight as Nigerian troops working with civilian Joint Task Force tried to repel the militants.

According to Saharareporters, the militants arrived Maiduguri from three axis, with the largest contingent arriving from Konduga road while two other column of fighters came from Damboa and Damaturu roads respectively.

The militants began the attacks as early as  7:20 firing  RPGs and other deadly weapons, Nigerian troops quickly engaged the militants firing weapons from different parts of the city to repel the attacks.

Not less than 82 persons were killed in Sunday's attempted invasion of Maiduguri by the Islamic fundamentalists, Boko Haram, security sources have said.

But this fell short of another account by one of the members of the youth vigilante group, Abba Modu, who was involved in the battle against the terrorist group. He claimed that not less than 500 insurgents were killed at the points of entry into the town where the insurgents tried to invade from.

According to the breakdown of the security sources who spoke anonymously to our correspondent, not less than 70 insurgents were killed, ten innocent civilians and two insurgents were felled in the attempted invasion of the town, the second in a space of seven days.