At least 15 people were killed when a Nigerian military convoy struck a landmine and came under gunfire in the northeastern state of Borno on Saturday, in one of the deadliest recent strikes against the country’s security forces. Two soldiers said the dead included 10 Nigerian soldiers and five members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, the volunteer militia that fights alongside the military against insurgent groups.
FAKTA
- What: A military convoy hit a landmine and was then attacked by gunmen
- Where: A road between Gamboru Ngala and neighbouring Cameroon, Borno State
- When: Saturday, 17 October 2026
- Casualties: 10 Nigerian soldiers and 5 Civilian Joint Task Force members killed; six soldiers wounded
- Suspected attackers: Boko Haram / Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) insurgents
- Official response: Military spokesperson Captain Mohammed Goni declined to comment
How the Nigeria convoy attack unfolded
The patrol was drawn from a battalion based in the border town of Gamboru. It was moving along the road linking Gamboru Ngala to neighbouring Cameroon when a pickup truck detonated a roadside mine that sources believe was planted by insurgents. Eight soldiers travelling in the vehicle were killed instantly.
Gunmen then opened fire on a second vehicle in the convoy, killing two more soldiers and five members of the Civilian Joint Task Force. Six wounded soldiers were taken to Maimalari Military Hospital in Maiduguri for treatment.
Nigerian media reported the blast struck near Kinuba village, about 25 kilometres from Gamboru, while the troops were supervising militia members clearing roadside vegetation that militants use as ambush cover.
A widening security crisis in Borno
Borno State remains the centre of an insurgency waged by Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province, despite years of sustained military operations. Both groups continue to strike soldiers and civilians with roadside bombs, ambushes and assaults on military positions across Nigeria’s northeast and near its borders with Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
The convoy attack follows another deadly assault in Borno last week, when suspected Boko Haram fighters struck an army base. That raid left at least 15 soldiers and five militia fighters dead and at least 20 others wounded, underscoring how relentless the campaign has become.
Investigation continues
Military spokesperson Captain Mohammed Goni declined requests for comment. Reuters, which first carried the soldiers’ account, said it could not independently verify the casualty figures; the two military sources spoke anonymously because they were not authorised to address the media.
No group has claimed responsibility, and authorities have released no further details. But the pattern is grimly familiar: as Nigeria’s military presses its operations in the northeast, roadside explosives and sudden ambushes keep exacting a heavy toll on troops and the civilian volunteers who serve beside them.
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