Boko Haram attack major Nigerian city

Boko Haram have reportedly attacked the northeastern Nigerian cities of Maiduguri and Monguno 

Boko Haram militants
Boko Haram militants

Boko Haram militants have reportedly attacked Nigeria's major northeastern city of Maiduguri and the town of Monguno in the same Borno state on Sunday, military, government and local sources said.

Government and local sources say the militants launched their assault on Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, just after midnight and on Monguno later in the morning. At around 9am local time on Sunday, Reuters reported shelling and military helicopters in Maiduguri.

"Boko Haram has more power than us and are shelling the town ... our colleagues are fleeing," a soldier in Maiduguri was quoted as saying.

In a tweet, Nigeria’s defence headquarters said that coordinated land and air operations were being used to repel the attacks and a curfew had been imposed on Maiduguri.

Boko Haram last attempted to take Maiduguri back in December 2013, attacking a nearby army and airforce base. Security sources said the militants tried and failed to take the airport again during the latest attack.

Monguno sources say that Boko Haram had overwhelmed the military with their firepower and that houses in the town were being set on fire

Boko Haram, a Sunni jihadist group, has killed thousands during a five-year insurgency to carve out an Islamic caliphate in the northeast of Nigeria. They control vast swathes of Borno state and some areas of neighboring Adamawa and Yobe states. They recently seized control of the town and a multi-national army base at Baga by Lake Chad. While the Nigerian government said that 150 people had been killed in that attack, some local officials have placed the figure as high as 2,000.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is due to arrive in commercial capital Lagos, in the southwest of country, later on Sunday.