Boko Haram Finally Captures Monguno Town, Kills Many

The terrorists have captured Monguno town, seized military barracks, weaponry, with families of some of the soldiers trapped therein and the locals, including men and women and children.

A day after President Goodluck Jonathan held a campaign rally in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, members of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, killed close to forty soldiers but suffered heavier casualties as they made daring attacks to capture barracks in the capital city as well as Monguno town.

A senior military officer confirmed the saga: "Monguno has fallen, Monguno has fallen. We also have fighting equipment there... we fought them all night long but ..."

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Security sources in Abuja and Maiduguri told SR that the Islamist insurgents had launched two attacks, one last evening at Monguno Barracks, which was repelled, and the other in Maiduguri on Sunday.

One of the sources said the bodies of 38 dead soldiers had been deposited at a military hospital at Maimalari Barracks in Maiduguri.

However, Nigerian troops were able to repel the attacks on both military facilities, said our sources. The troops reportedly killed more than 100 Boko Haram insurgents who attacked Maiduguri. In addition, the Nigerian troops captured two armored personnel carriers (APCs), artillery and a cache of other weapons from the insurgents. The military has imposed a 24-hour curfew in Maiduguri.

“The 7th Division of the Nigerian Army has imposed 24 hour door-to-door curfew on residents of Maiduguri as [Islamist] militants suffered high casualties during a fierce battle when they tried to overrun Maiduguri city today,” a senior military source in Abuja said.

In a corroborating text message to reporters, the spokesman of the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army, Colonel Sanni Usman, wrote: “Please announce the imposition of curfew on Maiduguri immediately till further notice.”

A resident of Maiduguri said that some of the residents of 1000 Housing Estate fled from their homes due to the heavy explosions that woke them up in the morning. A resident of the housing estate, Ali Ciroma, said, “We couldn't sleep all through last night. We heard many loud explosions but this early morning was unbearable. It was so close to our estate, so everyone fled to Bulunkutu area. Thanks to Allah, the situation is calm now.”