BREAKING: ISWAP Terrorists Take Over Marte Council Area In Borno After Dislodging Nigerian Army, Capturing Soldiers

Suspected fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have taken full control of Marte Local Government Area of Borno State after overpowering Nigerian troops in a brazen attack that happened over the last weekend, SaharaReporters has learnt.

A military source who spoke to SaharaReporters under condition of anonymity confirmed that the terrorists launched a series of coordinated attacks that eventually forced the Nigerian Army to abandon its position in the area by 3am on Sunday, May 12, 2025.

Confirmed information received from the inner source indicated that Marte had been dislodged, after intermittent attacks, and the military personnel were finally dislodged at 3am of 12th May 2025.

“Many soldiers (unspecified numbers) were captured and many has deserted, the ones that runs twords Dikwa are currently at the 24 task force brigade. ISWAP has taken over Marte.

“All gunshots were heard in Dikwa and the Nigeria Air Force were seen hovering the general area. Numbers of casualty: unspecified yet,” the source said.

The fall of Marte, a strategic local government in the Lake Chad axis, marks another major setback for the Nigerian military, which has long struggled to contain the decade-long insurgency in the North-East. 

The town has changed hands multiple times in recent years, becoming a symbolic and tactical prize for both ISWAP and government forces.

SaharaReporters had also reported how scores of Nigerian soldiers were killed after the base of the Nigerian Army in Borno State came under Boko Haram attack.

The terrorists invaded the base of the 153 Task Force Battalion in Marte Local Government Council of the state on Saturday night, dislodging the troops.

During the attack, the gunmen reportedly burnt armoured tanks and made away with ammunition, sources said.

“There was another Boko Haram dislodgement in Marte 153 TF Battalion on Saturday night, so many of our men are feared dead as we already lost communication with the base since the attack,” one of the sources, a Major in the Army, had told SaharaReporters.

The 153rd Task Force Battalion (153 TF Battalion) in Borno State, Nigeria, has been involved in several incidents with Boko Haram, including ambushes and recaptures of strategic locations like Marte.

This comes a few weeks after 22 soldiers, including a commander, were killed in an attack at a military base in Malam-Fatori at Abadam Local Government Area of Borno State.

For over a decade, Nigeria has been locked in a brutal conflict with insurgent groups operating primarily in the country’s North East region.

The most prominent among them is Boko Haram, which emerged in the early 2000s but became violently active around 2009, launching a campaign of terror marked by bombings, mass abductions, and attacks on civilian and military targets.