Thousands flee to Cameroon after Boko Haram attack

 Kano - A Boko Haram attack on a border town in northeast
Nigeria forced thousands of people to flee on Monday, in
a fresh assault indicating the militants' growing ability to
strike at will.
The attack on Gamboru Ngala comes after the town was
almost entirely destroyed in May in a devastating assault
that also left more than 300 people killed and prompted
outrage at the lack of military response.
Many local residents sought refuge across the border in
the north Cameroon town of Fotokol, where troop
reinforcements were being sent, a security service source
told AFP.
Boko Haram, which has been blamed for more than 10 000
deaths in a five-year-old uprising, has in recent weeks
sought to take over a number of towns in Borno state,
shifting from hit-and-run tactics to an apparent holding
strategy.
The group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, declared in a video
obtained by AFP on Sunday that the town of Gwoza,
southwest of Gamboru Ngala, was now under an Islamic
caliphate.
Residents said Monday's attack began at about 5:30 am
(0430 GMT), with the extremists launching coordinated
strikes on the main police station and a military base
known as the Harmony camp.
"The sounds (of gunfire) became more deafening as
police and soldiers responded to Boko Haram," said
witness Hamisu Lawan. "Most of our people have fled into
Cameroon."
Others locked themselves in their homes, voicing fears
that the militants would turn their guns on civilians once
they had overrun the police station and military camp.
Residents in Fotokol, which is separated from Gamboru
Ngala by a river, also reported "intense" fighting
throughout the morning.
"(Cameroonian) soldiers are at the bridge," one said.
Cameroon said on August 18 that it had closed its vast
border with Nigeria to guard against the spread of Ebola,
which has caused five deaths in the country's financial
capital, Lagos, in the far southwest.
But few believed that Cameroon had the resources needed
to seal all the possible crossing points along the roughly 1
600-kilometre (1 000-mile) frontier.
Territorial ambitions
Local officials and residents in Borno say Boko Haram may
be in control of a key road that connects Gamboru Ngala
to the state capital Maiduguri.
Establishing which parts of the area have in fact fallen into
rebels hands is difficult in the remote region, where travel
is dangerous and prolonged fighting has hit mobile phone
networks.
In Sunday's video, Shekau did not develop his claims about
Gwoza being part of the Islamic caliphate, despite
previously voicing his support for the leader of the Islamic
State (IS) militants, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who proclaimed
himself the "leader of Muslims everywhere" in June.
Al-Baghdadi's Sunni Muslim fighters have taken over parts
of Iraq and Syria.
Nigeria's military dismissed Shekau's claim as "empty",
maintaining that the country's sovereignty remained intact.
But that assertion is in conflict with multiple reports
indicating that Boko Haram controls several towns in
Borno and at least one in neighbouring Yobe state.
Analysts believe that Boko Haram will attempt to hold more
towns in Borno in the short to mid-term, with Nigeria's
military unable or unwilling to tackle them.
Some Nigerian troops stationed in the Borno state capital,
Maiduguri, have refused to deploy to retake Gwoza
because of what they say are sub-standard weapons that
leave them at the mercy of the better-equipped rebels.
Defence analysts have also argued that Nigeria needs to
improve its counter-insurgency strategy and adapt to
guerrilla fighting rather than relying on conventional
means.
Others complain of a lack of political will to properly tackle
Boko Haram, which wants to establish a hardline Islamic
state and whose campaign has targeted schools, churches
and government installations.