By Rafiu Ajakaye and Olarewaju Kola
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria
Nigerian authorities confirmed late Sunday repelling a fresh Boko Haram's onslaught on Maiduguri, the provincial capital of Borno State.
"The terrorists' attack on Maiduguri in the early hours of Sunday was quickly contained," the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
"The terrorists incurred massive casualty," it added, without giving details or specific figures. "The situation is calm as mopping up operation in the affected area is ongoing."
Boko Haram militants had mounted a fresh attack on Maiduguri earlier Sunday.
Sporadic gunshots were heard from some communities at the outskirts west of Maiduguri at about 6am.
The attack was emanating from settlements at the western side where Giwa barrack, former 21 Armoured Brigade of the Nigerian Army, is located.
Jubrin Gunda, a spokesman for the local vigilante group, had confirmed to the Anadolu Agency repelling the attack hours ago.
"We went out searching for the militants before they could make it into the town," he said earlier in the day.
"Several of them [militants] were killed. Very few of them, if any, who managed to escape did so with life-threatening injuries," Gunda suggested.
"I cannot say exactly the figure of those killed," he said. "The security services, the youth and our men fought gallantly to repel them."
Gunda said that at least 13 of the vehicles used by the attacker were seized.
He insisted that the insurgent had not come close to Maiduguri itself as troops, youths and vigilantes waylaid them nearly 27kms away.
Medical sources in Maiduguri said at least 11 corpses have so far been brought to Borno State General Hospital.
"Eleven people were brought dead while 30 injured persons were also brought to the hospital from the epicenter of the attack and have been admitted for treatment," the source told AA.
Most streets have been deserted as residents near the battlefield fled their homes as military patrols the city.
Members of the youth vigilante are seen deploying more of their men to strategic parts of the city.
Last week, Boko Haram launched a fierce attack on Maiduguri in a spirited bid to capture the commercial capital of the northeast.
The attack took place simultaneously as the militants held Monguno in the northern part of the state.
Militants repeatedly staged attacks on Maiduguri last year, including novel deployment of suicide bombers, each time killings dozens of locals.
Maiduguri has witnessed two major Boko Haram attacks since 2013, during which a number of insurgents were apprehended by local vigilante groups.
For the last five years, Nigeria has battled a fierce Boko Haram insurgency that has ravaged the country's volatile northeast and claimed thousands of lives.
The year 2014 proved to be the insurgency's bloodiest year yet, with increasingly frequent attacks, higher death tolls and a deluge of displaced persons.
Boko Haram had graduated from hit-and-run tactics to downright capture of towns across Nigeria's Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states.
In Borno alone, the militants took over the key towns of Bama, Gamboru Ngala and Gwoza, which they had made the headquarters of their self-styled Islamic.
Presently, almost 20 of the 27 local councils of the state are said to have been seized by the militants.
The violence displaced well over 1.5 million people in 2014, according to a recent report by the Borno State government.
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