Four Nigerian soldiers were killed and eleven injured Saturday evening in an attack by ISWAP, a branch of the Islamic State-affiliated Boko Haram group, at a military base in northeastern Nigeria, security sources said on Sunday. to AFP.
ISIS fighters in West Africa (ISWAP) arrived in six military trucks to attack the Jakana base, 42 km from Borno state capital Maiduguri, two sources said. soldiers on condition of anonymity.
After long exchanges of fire, « we lost four soldiers and 11 were injured, » said one of the sources.
« The terrorists attacked our detachment around 5.30 p.m. (4.30 p.m. GMT), but we replied and forced to withdraw, » said an army officer present at the time of the attack and giving the same assessment.
The insurgency of Boko Haram and its ISWAP faction, affiliated with the Islamic State group, continues to rage in the Lake Chad region.
The jihadist group Boko Haram was born in Nigeria, and fighting between the group and the army has claimed at least 35,000 lives since 2009, and has spread to neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
ISWAP is particularly active around Lake Chad, a vast expanse of water dotted with islets and swamps serving as haunts and training camps.
ISWAP has carried out numerous raids against military bases and direct attacks against Nigerian and regional security forces. In late December, six Nigerian soldiers were killed in a new jihadist raid.
This week, the 1,200 Chadian soldiers, who had been deployed for nine months to Nigeria as part of the regional fight against the jihadist group returned to Chad, officially at the end of their mission.
Their departure sowed panic in the small town of Gajiganna, near Monguno, two bases where Chadian forces were gathered, and Nigerian soldiers also left their base.
Hundreds of Nigerian civilians living near the Chadian contingents fled to Maiduguri for fear of further attacks by the jihadists.
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