Islamist militants and Nigerian troops have been fighting around a fishing town on Lake Chad as the insurgents step up attacks in the run-up to a presidential election in which security is a campaign issue, the army and residents said.

The Nigerian army said in a statement the militants attacked a military base in Baga, in eastern Borno state, on Wednesday evening. The borders of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon meet on the lake.

Residents said 10 people had been killed and clashes were still going on as the militants tried to capture the town.

But Nigerian army spokesman Sani Usman said: “We are clearing and mopping up.”

“The only military death was a member of the navy, which supported army troops along with the air force”, Usman said.

“Baga was the scene of mass killings by Boko Haram militants in 2015 when hundreds, possibly thousands, of people died and much of the town was destroyed. At the time Boko Haram held territory around the size of Belgium in northeast Nigeria but were later beaten back.

This attack, however, was the latest in a string of strikes on military bases in the northeast. President Muhammadu Buhari’s security record has become a campaign issue ahead of an election in February in which he will seek a second term. (Reuters)