Jihadists killed 35 people, including five soldiers and 15 police officers, in two attacks in Nigeria’s troubled northern state of Borno, sources told AFP on Tuesday.
In recent weeks, Islamic state activists have stepped up attacks on military camps in a decade of unrest that has killed 36,000 people and forced more than two million from their homes.
Fighters from the Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP) province arrived in machine gun trucks and stormed the city of Adjira late Monday. They attacked a military base and caused fierce fighting, in which five soldiers and 15 militia fighting the jihadists were killed.
ISWAP stormed the same base on Sunday, killing the base commander along with six civilians and withdrawing weapons, military sources said. Troops returned to base on Sunday.
“We lost five soldiers and 15 JTF civilians in the fighting,” a military officer told AFP. According to the source, 10 civilians were killed in the firefight. “The terrorists arrived in large numbers around 8.45pm (1945 GMT) and engaged the troops within hours of fighting,” the officer added.
The residents fled to nearby Mafa to avoid attacks.
“The victims were 30,” said a second military source. The fighters seized five trucks, including one with a machine gun, said a second source.
Separately, five civilians were killed and seven others injured when a car hit a mine in the town of Ran near the Cameroon border on Tuesday.
The vehicle came from Gamboru City when it hit a mine in Tumshe Village, 10 km from Ran, they said.
“The vehicle exploded.” Five people died and seven were seriously injured, “Ran resident Walid Abdallah told AFP.
Abdallah’s report was supported by Ibrahim Umar from Gamboru. “Apparently it was set by the terrorists to avenge their defeat on Saturday,” Umar quoted ISWAP as saying.
ISWAP fighters were beaten on Saturday when they attacked a base in Ran and caused artillery fire from troops, which hit two trucks of fighters while the rest fled.
ISWAP split from massive Boko Haram in 2016 and became the dominant group in the region. It launches attacks on military bases and ambushes troops when it kidnaps passengers at fake checkpoints.
From 2019, soldiers will withdraw from smaller villages and bases in the so-called “supercamp”, a fortified garrison that is supposed to offer better protection against attacks.
Critics say the strategy has given jihadists freedom to roam the countryside and made roads vulnerable to kidnappings and attacks.
