Boko Haram fighters disguised as herders killed at least 20 Cameroonian troops in a Tuesday morning raid on the Nigerian border town of Wulgo, local security sources and residents told AFP.
Cameroonian troops are commonly stationed across the border in Nigeria as part of anti-jihadist operations around Wulgo, which is near the volatile Lake Chad — home to both Islamic State and Boko Haram fighters.
The militants had disguised themselves as herders and traders in a nearby city and then infiltrated Wulgo to attack its surrounding military positions, said two intelligence sources.
The sources were assisting troops in the long-running fight against the militants and requested anonymity to speak freely.
“The insurgents attacked the bases around 1:00 am and fighting continued for two hours before they subdued the troops and burnt the bases, after taking away heavy weapons,” one of the sources said.
“Twenty Cameroonian troops were killed in the fighting and their bodies were transported across the border into Cameroon this morning,” the source added.
Neither the Nigerian military nor the Cameroonian side responded to an AFP request for comment.
Soviet-made Shilka guns — lightly armoured, radar-guided anti-aircraft weapons — were among the cache seized by the Boko Haram fighters, said the second source, who offered the same death toll.
On Monday, the fighters had blended among herders at the weekly market in the town of Gamboru, a commercial hub 15 kilometres (nine miles) away, the sources said.
They then moved into Wulgo under the cover of night to launch a “surprise attack”, said the second security source.
Sounds of heavy guns and explosions were heard by people in Gamboru who had been awake to observe Ramadan vigils, local resident Muhammad Sani Umar told AFP.
“I saw three Cameroonian military trucks conveying 13 bodies across the border into Cameroon this morning,” said Umar, who visited Wulgo on Tuesday.
The attacked military bases were a mess, with the building torched and vehicles burnt, Umar said.
Since 2009, jihadist violence in northeast Nigeria has killed 40,000 people and displaced 2.3 million, according to the UN, with the conflict spilling into neighbouring countries.
The Lake Chad region in particular — stretching across Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon — has become a jihadist stronghold, disrupting fishing, farming and herding, on which the 40 million people who live there depend.
Recently, however, officials have complained about a lack of coordination in the multi-country coalition fighting militants in the region, particularly as Nigeria and Niger have seen relations deteriorate after a coup toppled Niamey’s civilian government in 2023.
Since losing its Sambisa stronghold in Nigeria in 2021 to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a rival offshoot, Boko Haram has shifted its presence to areas around Lake Chad as well as Wulgo, Waza, Gwoza, Pulka the Mandara mountains on the border with Cameroon.
Wulgo and Waza have been repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram, who have kidnapped and killed loggers, herders and scrap metal scavengers they accuse of spying on them for the military or local militias.
Earlier this year, clashes with Boko Haram jihadists near the Lake Chad town of Baga left nine Nigerian soldiers dead.
The attack came days after ISWAP militants killed scores of farmers in nearby in Tumbun Kanta and Kwatar Yobe, with accounts ranging between 40 and 100 dead.
In March 2021, two Cameroonian soldiers were killed in a Boko Haram attack in Wulgo, with three other Cameroonian troops and a Nigerian soldier injured.
