Øjenvidner berettede om soldater på vild flugt, da det søndag stod klart, at den ekstreme islamistiske bevægelse, Boko Haram, havde indtaget byen Baga og en militærbase i Borno-delstaten i Nigerias nordøstlige del.
Residents of Baga, who fled by boat to neighbouring Chad, said many people had been killed and the town set ablaze, BBC online reports Sunday evening.
Baga, scene of a Nigerian army massacre in 2013, was the last town in the Borno North area under government control. It hosted the base of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), made up of troops from Nigeria, Chad and Niger.
Set up in 1998 to fight trans-border crime in the Lake Chad region, the force – including Western advisers and surveillance – more recently took on Boko Haram, which attacks towns and villages on an almost daily basis, abducting people including young boys and girls.
Residents who fled to Chad said they had woken to heavy gunfire as militants stormed Baga early on Saturday, attacking from all directions.
They said they had decided to flee when they saw the multi-national troops running away, BBC notes.
Maina Maaji Lawan, senator for Borno North, said people’s frustration knew “no bounds” over the apparent fact that the military had not fought back.
“There is definitely something wrong when our military abandon their posts each time there is an attack from Boko Haram,” the senator said.
Hvem og hvad er Boko Haram?
Se mere på http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boko_Haram
