A roadside bomb killed at least eight troops over the weekend in Nigeria's conflict-hit Borno state, a military source told AFP Monday.
A roadside bomb killed at least eight troops over the weekend in Nigeria's conflict-hit Borno state, a military source told AFP Monday.
Africa's most populous country is battling a long-running jihadist insurgency mostly centred in its northeast from Boko Haram and offshoot rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
A situation report prepared for the United Nations and seen by AFP put the toll from the Sunday blast at nine. It said ISWAP militants "detonated" the device while the soldiers were "stopped at a camp along the Gubio-Damasak Road".
Related Articles
Though Borno state is the epicentre of the country's jihadist insurgency the blast in Gubio from an improvised explosive device (IED) occurred in an "uncommon location" for roadside bombs, suggesting "ISWAP is widening its operating footprint and can place IEDs beyond its more routine corridors".
"Sadly, we lost eight of our soldiers," the military source said, speaking on condition of anonymity about an attack that Nigerian forces have not yet confirmed.
A spokesman for the Nigerian military's operations in the northeast did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The military source described an "ambush" from "ISWAP elements", in which an improvised explosive device "struck a mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicle".
Nigeria's insurgency has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million in the northeast since it erupted in 2009, according to UN figures.
The conflict has spilled into neighbouring Niger, Cameroon and Chad, leading the region to launch a military coalition to fight the jihadist groups.
Sunday's blast came a day after an ISWAP roadside bomb along the Wajiroko–Azir axis in Damboa district wounded several soldiers, according to the report.
It also warned of a rise in IED attacks in Borno state across December.
Though violence has waned from its peak a decade ago when Boko Haram controlled swathes of territory, analysts warned of an uptick in jihadist attacks last year.
The United States has in recent months criticised Nigeria's failure to rein in the violence that President Donald Trump insists amounts to "persecution" of Christians -- a framing long used by the US religious right.
Despite the Nigerian government and independent analysts rejecting the accusations, the US launched surprise Christmas Day airstrikes on militants it said were linked to the Islamic State group.
Abuja and Washington said that the joint strikes had killed multiple militants, though those deaths have not been confirmed.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed)
