The jihadist group Boko Haram has killed more than 60 people in an overnight attack in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno State, local officials say.
On Friday night militants struck the village of Darul Jamal, home to a military base on the Nigeria-Cameroon border, killing at least five soldiers.
The Nigerian Air Force said it killed 30 militants in strikes after receiving reports of the raid on the village, where residents had recently returned following years of displacement.
The attack comes amid a resurgence in jihadist activity in Nigeria’s north-east, with Boko Haram fights and rivals, the West African branch of the Islamic State group, stepping up attacks.
More than 20 houses and 10 buses were destroyed in Darul Jamal, while at least 13 drivers and labourers, who had been working on reconstruction efforts in the town were killed, Reuters reported.
Visiting the village on Saturday, Borno Governor Babagana Zulum said: “It’s very sad, this community was resettled some months ago and they went about their normal business,” he told AFP news agency.
“The numerical strength of the Nigerian army is not enough to contain the situation,” he said, adding that a newly established force called the Forest Guards was set to bolster security personnel in the embattled region.
Nigerian Air Force spokesperson Ehimen Ejodame said surveillance revealed militants “fleeing northwards from the town towards nearby bushes,” on Friday night.
“In a series of three precise and successive strikes, the fleeing terrorists were decisively engaged, resulting in the neutralisation of over 30 insurgents,” he said.
The military has intensified operations in north-eastern Nigeria this year, following persistent targeted attacks on its formations and installations.
In April, Governor Zulum warned that Boko Haram was making a comeback after its fighters staged a series of attacks and seized control of some parts of the state.
Borno has been at the centre of a 15-year insurgency by the militant group, which has forced more than two million people to flee their homes and killed more than 40,000.
At the height of its powers in 2015, Boko Haram controlled huge areas in Borno state before being beaten back.
The fight against the militants became even more challenging after neighbouring Niger withdrew its troops from a regional force set up to tackle the jihadist group.
Boko Haram gained international notoriety in April 2014 when it kidnapped more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok, also in Borno state.
