Nigeria – Nigerians buried jihadists who had been killed in an attack. After being ambushed by IS-affiliated jihadists in violence-wracked northeast Borno state, at least eight troops were slain and several others went missing. A military convoy was targeted by militants from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) as it traveled between the towns of Dikwa and Marte in the Lake Chad region.
According to a military officer, the attack injured eight other soldiers as well as an anti-jihadist militiaman. The jihadists grabbed two military vehicles and burned three others, according to a second military source who begged not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak about the incident. It was the second high-profile attack by ISWAP jihadists in less than two weeks in Nigeria’s northeast, where they have waged a 12-year Islamist insurgency.
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Since rival Boko Haram chief Abubakar Shekau was slain in a battle between the two jihadist factions early this year, ISWAP has been consolidating territory in the Lake Chad area. 16 Nigerian troops and two anti-jihadist militia members were slain earlier this month in another ambush by IS-allied terrorists on a highway patrol in northeast Borno State. According to local locals, ISWAP has recently increased its attacks on people along the 135-kilometer (84-mile) Maiduguri-Monguno highway, where they set up checkpoints, stealing and killing motorists.
According to military sources, the near-daily strikes spurred military patrols along the roadway. In an effort to better resist extremist threats, soldiers have closed down some smaller army bases and moved into larger, reinforced garrisons known as “super camps” since 2019.
However, critics claim that the “super camp” policy has given militants free rein in rural regions, making tourists more vulnerable to kidnapping. Niger, Chad, and Cameroon have all been affected by the violence. To put an end to the violence, a regional military coalition is combating Islamist groups.
