Boko Haram launches fresh attack on Maiduguri this morning

News making rounds is that insurgents have been trying to capture Maiduguri city for a while now. There were reports of a recent attack on the city of Maiduguri, in Borno by Boko Haram insurgents. According to witnesses, heavily armed men stormed the city in the early hours of today, trying to make their way into Maiduguri through a suburb community called Dalwa. Loud gun fire were heard on the streets of the northern city as many residents fled.

Al Jazeera's reporter Ahmed Idriss, reports that residents were fleeing the south, but also entering into Maiduguri from the surrounding areas, fearing fresh attacks from other directions.

"The fighting started at about 2:00am. The military also says it is deploying large numbers of troops to the north of the city as this could be a ploy or diversion by Boko Haram," Idriss said

Idriss added the attack could be an attempt by the group to "prove a point" following recent successes by multinational forces fighting Boko Haram in Chad and Cameroon.