BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) — Scores of Boko Haram fighters traveling in a convoy of vans attacked the northeast Nigeria town of Gombe Saturday morning, engaging in heavy fighting as the military responded with ground troops and air force jets, witnesses said. The fiercest fighting was about three kilometers (two miles) outside the town, resident Jummai Aliyu said. “We are under attack now. Boko Haram are trying to invade our town. They are very close by here and the soldiers are engaging them,” Aliyu said. Soldiers on the ground were backed up by two fighter jets, witnesses said. “We’ve all rushed back inside our houses now. Everywhere is quiet except for the sounds of …
BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) — Scores of Boko Haram fighters traveling in a convoy of vans attacked the northeast Nigeria town of Gombe Saturday morning, engaging in heavy fighting as the military responded with ground troops and air force jets, witnesses said.
The fiercest fighting was about three kilometers (two miles) outside the town, resident Jummai Aliyu said. “We are under attack now. Boko Haram are trying to invade our town. They are very close by here and the soldiers are engaging them,” Aliyu said.
Soldiers on the ground were backed up by two fighter jets, witnesses said.
“We’ve all rushed back inside our houses now. Everywhere is quiet except for the sounds of shooting and explosions,” Aliyu said.
Gombe has previously been attacked multiple times, including by a car bomb in December that killed at least 20 people.
Boko Haram’s Islamic extremist insurgency killed 10,000 people last year compared to 2,000 in the four previous years, according to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations. Fighting has forced some 157,000 people to seek refuge in Niger, while 40,000 others have gone to Cameroon and 17,000 are in Chad, according to the United Nations.
On Friday, the group staged its first attack on Chadian territory, bringing to three the number of neighboring countries roped into what had previously been an internal Nigerian conflict. The targeted village, Ngouboua, was already home to nearly 3,300 refugees who had fled Boko Haram-related violence in Nigeria, according to the U.N.
Cameroon and Niger have also been attacked. Along with Benin, all three have vowed to contribute to a regional force against Boko Haram that is expected to be launched in the coming weeks, though funding questions remain unsettled.
Nigeria announced Feb. 7 that it was pushing back planned presidential and legislative elections by six weeks, to March 28, because of insecurity.
The United Nations special representative for West Africa said Friday that Nigeria’s military needs to show “greater resolve” in the widening fight against Boko Haram.
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Boko Haram Attacks Nigeria’s Gombe, Prompting Fierce Battles With Military
