Reported By Mary Udezue | Edited by: Gabriel Osa
Borno State, Nigeria — A military base in Buratai, home to a key Nigerian Army battalion in Borno State, was targeted in a nighttime attack by fighters linked to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), military sources and security analysts report. The assault, which occurred late on Thursday night, involved mortar shelling directed with unmanned aerial systems (drones) — a tactic that underscores an evolution in how insurgent groups are operating in northeastern Nigeria’s conflict zones.
According to security informants, the terrorists approached the Buratai Battalion Headquarters under the cover of darkness, using armed drones to surveil and guide mortar fire toward defensive positions. The UAVs enabled ISWAP fighters to adjust indirect fire in real time, increasing the chances of striking the base’s perimeter and interior facilities. While Nigerian troops on alert repelled the attack, sporadic light clashes erupted as insurgents attempted to close with the post, drawing return fire and disrupting their formations.
In the aftermath of the engagement, army engineers and troops patrolling the area recovered multiple Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) shells, spent mortar tubes, and bullet casings scattered along approaches to the base. These findings are consistent with other incidents in the ongoing insurgency in northeastern Nigeria where jihadist groups have increasingly incorporated indirect fire weapons and commercial drones — often repurposed for battlefield reconnaissance — into their operations. Reuters reported in October that Islamist insurgents had earlier used drone support in attacks on multiple positions in Borno and neighbouring Yobe, where buildings and vehicles were hit before troops forced them back.
Local commanders of Operation HADIN KAI, the ongoing military campaign against Boko Haram and ISWAP, confirmed that no significant breach of defensive lines occurred during the Buratai attack, and that forces maintained control of the base throughout. The operation has engaged similar threats in the past, including coordinated assault attempts where insurgents have employed indirect weapons and drones in their initial phases before encountering disciplined troop resistance. Analysts note that the increased use of drones and mortars reflects both an adaptation by insurgents and the influence of foreign-sourced technologies and tactics that complicate conventional counter-insurgency responses.
Security officials emphasised that the Nigerian Army’s defensive posture, bolstered by aerial surveillance and rapid response units, was instrumental in neutralising the direct threat. Although insurgents withdrew following the initial bombardment and ensuing clashes, the presence of RPG rounds and other ordnance indicates the intent to escalate beyond simple hit-and-run tactics. Recovery of such military-grade munitions often helps troops map insurgent logistical trails and may inform future operations to interdict supply networks.
The incident has renewed calls from local political and community leaders for accelerated security reinforcement across vulnerable corridors in Borno, where key military installations, supply routes and civilian centres regularly come under threat from Islamic insurgent factions. Residents of Buratai — a strategically important town that has seen previous violence and spillage from broader clashes in Biu and surrounding areas — expressed relief that troops held firm, but voiced concern that insurgents may test other positions with similar drone-assisted mortar attacks.
The attack also feeds into wider debates among defence analysts about the growing sophistication of insurgent tactics in the Lake Chad Basin theatre, where militants have blended low-cost, commercially available technologies with traditional guerrilla weapons to pressure conventional forces. Observers say addressing this trend will require enhanced counter-drone capabilities, deeper intelligence cooperation, and sustained offensive operations to degrade militant weapons caches and training hubs used to equip fighters with RPGs, mortars and supporting equipment.
As operations under Operation HADIN KAI continue, the Nigerian Army reiterated its commitment to safeguarding key military and civilian infrastructure, and to preventing insurgent groups from gaining any operational advantage through asymmetric innovation. The latest encounter at Buratai underscores both the persistent threats faced by troops on the frontlines and the evolving nature of the conflict nearly two decades after the insurgency initially emerged.
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