How ISWAP coordinated attacks overwhelmed troops in Borno

ISWAP launched simultaneous attacks on two Borno State locations overnight — Pulka community in Gwoza LGA and Benesheikh town in Kaga LGA.

In Pulka, fighters struck the military operations base at approximately 10:25 PM, engaging soldiers until troops ran out of ammunition. Attackers then moved to a road construction site, destroying equipment and vehicles belonging to Decency Road Construction Firm, before setting civilian homes ablaze. Civilians fled to surrounding mountains. Reinforcements arrived from Brigade Gwoza and repelled the attack. One Civilian JTF member was killed. Military casualties unconfirmed but reported.

In Benesheikh, terrorists struck at approximately 1 AM, burning trucks and commercial vehicles and killing motorists and passengers who had stopped for the night due to the routine evening closure of the Maiduguri-Damaturu-Kano road. A Brigadier General — the military’s commanding officer at Benesheikh — was killed in the attack. It is the highest-ranking officer killed since Brigadier General Uba was killed in a Borno ambush in late 2025.

The two attacks were coordinated and simultaneous. Senator Ali Ndume confirmed both incidents, noting that troops are doing their best but lack sufficient equipment to confront the terrorists.

Pulka currently hosts thousands of displaced survivors from the Ngoshe massacre of March 3. The terrorists hit it again last night.

In the last few weeks, Boko Haram and its ISWAP faction have carried out a series of deadly and coordinated attacks on military and police facilities across Borno State, killing soldiers, police officers, and civilians, while forcing security forces into intense firefights.

In March, Boko Haram fighters attacked three military bases in Baga, Buratai, and Ajilari, near Maiduguri. Their objective was reportedly to destabilise forward operating positions and weaken troop morale.

Reinforcements from the Nigerian Army, Air Force, and Civilian Joint Task Force eventually repelled the attackers, but the raids demonstrated the insurgents’ ability to strike across multiple fronts.

Around the same period, insurgents linked to ISWAP targeted a Forward Base near Banki junction along the Bama–Gwaza Road, killing an Army Major and several soldiers. The attackers arrived in coordinated units, overwhelming the stationed troops before withdrawing after hours of heavy gunfire.