Following a Sunday predawn attack, Nigerian forces lost the town of Monguno, in northeastern Borno state, to Boko Haram fighters.

Monguno is home to approximately 100,000 residents as well as to Nigerian military barracks.

According to CNN, an unnamed Nigerian military officer said, “Our soldiers initially repealed the terrorists but they mobilized more fighters and came back in full force. They overwhelmed our troops and forced them to retreat.”

The officer indicated that Boko Haram launched a simultaneous attack on the city of Maiduguri, which has a population of more than 600,000. The Nigerians were able to hold the city, but it appears the battle for it has turned into one of attrition.

One of the reasons Monguno was strategically important to the Nigerian military was that it served “as a buffer to keep Boko Haram from advancing towards Maiduguri [from the northeast].” Its fall now opens the way for Boko Haram to pour more fighters into the fight for Maiduguri. Until now, those fighters have been holed up in the village of Jintilo waiting for a way to be cleared through Monguno.

Borno Governor Kashim Shettima spoke following the fall of Monguno, saying: “So long as we have the resources, we will continue to regard the efforts to reclaim peace our number 1 area of commitments. I want to reassure the good people of Borno state that we will never abdicate from our responsibility as those they trusted with leadership.”

In December 2o12 Breitbart News reported that Boko Haram was undertaking religious apartheid against Christians in Nigeria. Between 2009 and 2012, the terror group had already murdered 3,000 people, most of whom were Christians.

Since that time, Boko Haram has continued its conquest, acquiring more and more land and taking hostages and lives as it sees fit. On April 14 they abducted approximately 200 girls from a secondary school in Chibok. The girls were never seen again.

On September 12 Breitbart News reported that Boko Haram had succeeded in gaining control of a swath of land as large as Ireland.

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.