Nigerian soldiers repel an attack on a base and kill 80 Islamic militants, army says

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian soldiers backed by air support repelled an attack Wednesday by suspected Islamic militants on a military base in northeastern Nigeria, killing at least 80 of the assailants, the army said.

The militants, suspected members of Boko Haram or the Islamic State West Africa Province, were supported by multiple armed drones when they attacked the base in Mallam Fatori in the state of Borno, near the border with Niger, at around 12:50 a.m., army spokesperson Sani Uba said in a statement.

Uba said the troops had anticipated the assault and repelled it with ground ​fire and ​air support, killing at least 80 fighters, including three “high-profile” commanders. The Associated Press could not independently verify the claims.

A previous statement by the army put the death toll at over 60.

The army spokesperson said four soldiers were wounded evacuated for treatment. He said troops recovered a large cache of weapons from suspected militants, including assault rifles, RPG launchers, machine guns, ammunition, improvised explosive devices and armed drone components.

The attack comes after three suspected suicide bombings Monday killed at least 23 people and wounded 108 others in Borno's capital Maiduguri. No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but suspicion quickly fell on the Boko Haram jihadi group, which in 2009 launched an insurgency in northeastern Nigeria to enforce their radical interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law.

Boko Haram has since become stronger, with thousands of fighters and different factions. One of its offshoots, the Islamic State West Africa Province, which is backed by the Islamic State group, has staged a growing number of attacks against the military in recent months.

The crisis has overstretched the Nigerian military, which also battles other security crises across the conflict-battered north.

More than 40,000 people in Nigeria have been killed since Boko Haram's insurgency began, according to data from the United Nations. Analysts say not enough is being done by the government to protect its citizens.

The U.S. sent troops last month to the West African nation to help advise its military on the fight against insecurity.

Dyepkazah Shibayan in Abuja, Nigeria contributed to this report.

Victims of Monday's bomb blast at a market receives treatment at a hospital in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jossy Ola)

Victims of Monday's bomb blast at a market receives treatment at a hospital in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jossy Ola)

A security person stands guard following Monday's bomb blast at a market in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jossy Ola)

Police officers secure the scene of Monday'sc bomb blast at a market in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jossy Ola)

A security person patrols at the scene of Monday's bomb blast at a market in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jossy Ola )

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has slashed by about 80% the fee for Americans to formally renounce their U.S. citizenship.

After years of legal battles with several groups representing Americans wanting to give up their citizenship, the department on Friday published a final rule in the Federal Register that reduces the cost from $2,350 to $450.

The new fee, effective April 13, had been promised in 2023 but had never been implemented. The cost is now the same as it was when the State Department first started charging Americans to formally renounce their citizenship in 2010.

Renouncing U.S. citizenship can be an intensive and lengthy process. Applicants must repeatedly confirm in multiple written and verbal attestations to a State Department consular officer that they understand the implications of the step before being allowed to take a formal oath of renunciation. It must then be reviewed by the department.

The fee was raised from $450 to $2,350 in 2015 to cover the administrative expenses as the number of people wanting to renounce their citizenship surged in part due to new U.S. tax reporting requirements for American expatriates that angered many.

That dramatic fee increase drew significant opposition from groups such as the France-based Association of Accidental Americans, which represents people mainly living abroad whose U.S. citizenship is due purely to their having been born in the United States.

The association filed several lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the fee, including one that remains pending that argues there should be no cost at all for renouncing one’s citizenship.

“The Association of Accidental Americans welcomes this decision, which acknowledges the necessity of making this fundamental right accessible to all,” its president, Fabien Lehagre, said in a statement. “This victory is the direct result of six years of relentless legal action and advocacy.”

In court, the association said since the 2023 announcement that the fee would be reduced at least 8,755 Americans had paid the full $2,350 to renounce their citizenship. The State Department did not provide numbers for the total number of Americans who have renounced their citizenship.

This story has been corrected to reflect that the reduced fees are effective on April 13, not March 13.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a working lunch at the Shield of the Americas Summit, Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)