By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria

Boko Haram militants on Monday launched a daring attack on a Nigerian army base in northeastern Borno state, injuring at least 22 soldiers and two officers, an army spokesman said on Tuesday.

“The troops successfully repelled the attack [in Kareto, northern Borno] and killed quite a number of the terrorists. The situation has since been brought under control and reinforcements sent,” spokesman Sani Usman said in a statement.

“So far our troops had two officers and 22 soldiers wounded in action,” he added.

Military and local sources told Anadolu Agency that militants attacked the 113 battalion in the early hours of Monday, initially forcing the troops to flee as they were “outgunned”.

“But fighter jets were immediately dispatched to bombard the militants, resulting in multiple deaths on their part,” said an army source, unnamed due to restrictions on speaking to the media. “Because it was a surprise attack by hundreds of terrorists who came with sophisticated weapons, troops initially engaged them but later retreated for tactical reasons,” he added.

A local, Buba Muhammed, claimed that three members of a civilian vigilante group assisting the army died in the Kareto incident.

“We counted about 34 terrorists who were also killed. Several others escaped with gunshots,” Muhammed told Anadolu Agency by phone on Tuesday.

The attack again undermines the government claim that the militants can no longer wage physical attacks on troops.

In other regional news, at least three Cameroonian soldiers were killed and five were injured in the country’s Far North region near the Nigerian border when suspected Boko Haram insurgents ambushed a military convoy on Monday night, Gen. Bouba Dobekreo, a Multinational Join Task Force commander, told Anadolu Agency.

The Multinational Joint Task Force was created by Lake Chad Basin countries – Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Benin – aimed at eradicating the Nigerian militant group.

The Nigerian and Cameroonian army claim that hundreds of Boko Haram militants have been neutralized in recent months.

* Anadolu Agency correspondent Felix Nkambeh Tih contributed to this story from Ankara.