03/12/2013 10:29
Nigeria crisis: Boko Haram attack Maiduguri airbase
Boko Haram insurgents have attacked a military airbase in north-eastern Nigeria, destroying two helicopters, the BBC reported, citing authorities.
Eyewitnesses say hundreds of militants attacked several areas of the city of Maiduguri, starting early on Monday.
A 24-hour curfew has been imposed in Maiduguri. Its civilian airport was also briefly closed.
A BBC correspondent says the large-scale, co-ordinated attack is a big setback for the Nigerian military.
Thousands of people have been killed since 2009, when Boko Haram launched its campaign to install Islamic law.
In May, a state of emergency was declared in Borno state, of which Maiduguri is the capital, as well as two neighbouring states, while there has been a massive military deployment to the worst-affected areas.
Ministry of Defence spokesman Brig Gen Chris Olukolade said in a statement that two helicopters and three decommissioned military aircraft had been "incapacitated" during the attack which had been repelled.
He said some army bases had also been targeted, while 24 insurgents had been killed and two soldiers wounded.
Local residents told the AFP news agency that hundreds of heavily armed Islamist gunmen besieged the air force and army bases, razing buildings and setting shops and petrol stations ablaze.
"I saw two air force helicopters burnt," a local official told AFP.
Bomb and gun attacks were carried out in Maiduguri, an AFP reporter in the city said.