Nigerian soldiers remain on the scene, Thursday, January 9, where intense fighting near a northeastern garrison town left three soldiers dead. ——————————
READ MORE: Fighting between Nigeria's army and jihadists over a key northeastern garrison town also sparked a deadly blaze at a nearby displacement camp, witnesses and security sources said Wednesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, dozens of fighters from the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP), aboard several trucks fitted with machine guns attacked Monguno, a town some 135 kilometers north of Borno State capital Maiduguri.
Witnesses said a rocket-propelled grenade struck a nearby camp housing thousands of displaced people during the fighting, causing a fire that destroyed hundreds of tents.
Earlier a security source told AFP that three soldiers were killed when an army vehicle burst into flames after a car filled with explosives rammed into a convoy on Tuesday afternoon.
Just three days earlier, Chad withdrew 1,200 troops from the region — including hundreds from Monguno — after completing a nine-month mission fighting a rival jihadist group, Nigeria's Boko Haram.
The pullout from the largest base in the volatile Lake Chad region, which straddles the borders of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, had sparked widespread fears of increased jihadist attacks. (AFP)
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