Many residents of Rann fled for their lives when a large number of heavily armed men, suspected of being members of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), attacked the military base in the town in the early hours of Monday.

The gunmen arrived in the town in trucks carrying heavy machine guns and other weapons. They made for the military base and managed to dislodge the Nigerian troops of Operation Hadin Kai stationed in the community.

“They stormed the town around midnight. The fighting lasted for at least four hours until around 4am. The insurgents took over the military base but when reinforcements arrived they were forced to flee,” a resident of Rann, which is the administrative headquarters of Kala-Balge Local Government Area in Borno State, said.

An intelligence officer told the Global Times that many of the insurgents were killed and that some of those who fled had been wounded.

Details of the attack were sketchy but residents said the insurgents set many houses on fire and engaged troops in a fierce gun battle.

Modu Mamman, a resident, said the insurgents arrived in their numbers.

They had allowed some civilians to pass and some humanitarian workers in the town were seen fleeing in the direction of Cameroon.

“Residents and humanitarian workers, including women and children, ran into the bush. They were running towards the Cameroon border.”

Mamman suspected that the insurgents used the road from Gamboru Ngala to get to Rann. The road had not been used for a long time because it was largely inaccessible because of its poor condition, he said.

Umar Mohammed, also a resident, said many were injured and some civilians had been caught in the crossfire. He knew of one civilian joint task force member and one citizen who had been killed by the insurgents.

“They burnt down the military base and some vehicles. The soldiers abandoned their base because the firepower of the insurgents was superior. But when reinforcements arrived, the military was able to take back the town,” an aid worker with one of the NGOs said, adding that many civilians and humanitarian workers found an escape route and headed to Cameroon.

Some were still in Cameroon, he said, although a few people had returned to Rann.