No fewer than 15 persons are feared dead while 55 others sustained injuries in a Sunday night attack by Boko Haram insurgents at Bale community in the outskirts of Maiduguri. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that echoes from sporadic gunshots and multiple explosions, which lasted for hours on Sunday evening, were heard from the outskirts of the city.

Competent security sources told NAN that a number of insurgents attacked Bale-Shuwa and Bale-Kura communities near Maiduguri in an attempt to infiltrate the town at about 8: 00 p.m. The source disclosed that the insurgents parked their vehicles few meters away from a security checkpoint and sneaked into the community. The source added that the security operatives engaged in fierce gun battle with the insurgents who detonated IEDs and shot sporadically.

However, the Commander of the Theatre Command of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj-Gen. Rogers Nicholas, denied any death on the side of his soldiers or civilians in the attack. Reacting to NAN inquiry in a text message, he said, however, that some of the Boko Haram insurgents were killed.