Boko Haram attacked the city of Maiduguri in Nigeria on Sunday. The strategic seizure of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, would give Boko Haram an even firmer control hold in northern Nigeria.

Boko Haram is most widely known for its abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in April 2014 and the more recent attack on the people of Baga, a small town that hosts a key military base situated near Nigeria’s border with Chad, in early January. Amnesty International labeled the attack on Baga as “the deadliest massacre” in Boko Haram’s history.

Boko Haram translates loosely to “Western education is forbidden” in Hausa, a widely spoken language in Nigeria. Often described as a “militant Islamist group” and classified as a “terrorist organization” by the U.S. in 2013, Boko Haram launched its military operations in 2009 in pursuit of shaping an Islamic state. Abubakar Shekau emerged as the public leader of Boko Haram after the capture of Muhammad Yusuf, its founder, in 2009 and he has since escalated the group’s bloody insurgency. Boko Haram targets both civilians and the military and according to the Council on Foreign Relations it has killed close to 8,000 people since 2011.

Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, has faced criticism in light of the Nigerian army’s inability to successfully respond to the threat posed by Boko Haram. In the spring of 2013 President Goodluck Jonathan issued a state of emergency for three northern states: Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa. Sunday’s attack does not represent Boko Haram’s first attempt at taking control of Borno’s anchor city. Maiduguri functioned as Boko Haram’s initial headquarters and up until now the deployment of troops had forced most militants to flee their former urban base.

According to on-the-ground reports, residents of Maiduguri awoke to the sounds of explosions and heavy gunfire in the early morning attack. Maiduguri has not yet fallen into the hands of Boko Haram, but a second contingent of militant fighters did successfully overtake the nearby town of Monguno. Home to the last military base before Maiduguri from the northeast, the capture of Monguno presents a grave threat to the military’s chance of maintaining control in Maiduguri.

The timing of Boko Haram’s attack in Maiduguri aligns with the arrival of  Secretary of State John Kerry in Lagos, Nigeria’s capital. Secretary Kerry’s short stay in Nigeria included separate meetings with the two main presidential candidates, Goodluck Jonathan and retired general Muhammadu Buhari. Concerned that the recent streak of attacks predicts election-related violence, Secretary Kerry’s visit ahead of the Feb. 14 vote brought a message of U.S. support for a peaceful and free election. The U.S. has also expressed concern over reported human rights abuses committed by the Nigerian military.

The attack on Maiduguri also comes in the wake of President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent campaign stop to the city. One of his campaign promises is to end the Boko Haram uprising if re-elected. During his campaign stop on Saturday he spoke to thousands of refugees in Maiduguri, who had fled their towns due to the conflict, communicating that they would soon return home and their land recaptured.