143 Boko Haram fighters have been killed after trying to attack a Cameroonian army militia base in the northern town of Kolofata, according to the Cameroonian government, this is the heaviest loss yet for the militant group.

The assault began in the early hours when a few hundred Islamist fighters, using the cover of fog to cross over Nigeria and attempted to storm the base. The fighting lasted five hours before the attackers fled back to the border, the army managed to seize a large stash of weapons and ammunitions from the fleeing militants.

The hardline Islamic group is fighting to create an Islamic state in north eastern Nigeria, their campaign has left 13,000 dead and has displaced up to 1.5 million people since 2009.

Another attack was launched in Baga "They have set up barricades in strategic locations in the town. There are corpses everywhere. The whole town smells of decomposing bodies," said Borye Kime, "who fled the attack to Chad but returned briefly on Monday to collect some possessions."

Nigeria's president Goodluck Jonathan has been under fierce scrutiny due to his lack of tactical response to the Boko Haram threat, and inability to stop their advance.

As Boko Haram continues to spread their campaign of violence through Nigeria, the Nigerian government is struggling to maintain control of the situation. Local officials have cited huge numbers of dead in the attack on the town on the shores of Lake Chad in Borno state. There was no possibility of immediately confirming the figures.

The group has seized dozens of towns and villages in northeast Nigeria in the last six months and now reportedly controls large parts of Borno state, which borders Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

The situation seems like it will be getting a lot worse before it gets better.