Boko Haram gunmen attacked a military checkpoint in Marte town, Borno State, near the Cameroon border. The clash resulted in the deaths of five Boko Haram fighters, one soldier, and one policeman. The attackers attempted to overrun the checkpoint but were repelled after a fierce gun battle.
4 Jan 2013 · Marte, Marte, Borno
Deaths
7
Kidnapped
0
Total casualties
7
Perpetrators
Boko Haram
Response
The JTF Operation Restore Order immediately deployed reinforcements to the Marte axis to secure the border crossing. Following the attack, the military intensified "saturation patrols along the Lake Chad Basin to locate the transit camps used by the attackers.
Displacement
0
Socioeconomic drivers
Control of smuggling routes, retaliation for the 1st January military raid in Maiduguri, and the exploitation of the tri-border geography (Nigeria-Cameroon-Chad) for rapid retreat.
Trajectory
Marte would later become one of the first Local Government Areas to fall completely under insurgent control in 2014. This 2013 checkpoint attack was a probing strike intended to test the response time of the military and identify gaps in the border security net.
Cycle notes
Mirrors prior Boko Haram assaults like the 13 December 2011 Maiduguri military checkpoint bomb-and-shootout, 1 January 2013 Maiduguri urban clash, and 22 February 2012 Kano checkpoint explosives attack.
Pattern
Attacks on Military Checkpoint
Related — Other
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