Nigeria: 31 soldiers killed in ambush in the north-east of the country
Nigerian soldiers at a checkpoint in 2015 (illustrative image).
© Lekan Oyekanmi / AP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
In Nigeria, 31 soldiers were killed on Sunday April 25, authorities said.
Those responsible for the attack are believed to be the jihadists of the Islamic State group in West Africa.
Nigerian soldiers are said to have been ambushed.
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According to the account of the Nigerian army, the military convoy was awaited by about twenty vehicles as it headed for Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, in the northeast of the country.
Nigerian soldiers were carrying weapons that they were supposed to deliver to the area.
Around noon, they were surprised by a deluge of fire according to a testimony and could not resist the many jihadist fighters.
Other witnesses report "
colossal losses
" in "
horrible
"
circumstances
.
The toll of 31 soldiers killed is therefore still provisional.
Vehicles and weapons captured by jihadist fighters
The insurgents managed to get their hands on many weapons and two armored vehicles.
They would then have used it to attack and burn a military base located not far from there.
In this area of northeastern Nigeria, the army is regularly the target of jihadist attack, aimed either by the Islamic State in West Africa, in English Iswap (Islamic State in West Africa Province), created in 2016, or by Boko Haram installed in the region since 2009.
Since the start of the conflict, which has left more than two million displaced among the civilian population, at least 36,000 people have been killed.
►Also read: Nigeria: populations flee Damasak, in Borno State, target of jihadist attacks
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Nigeria
Defense
Terrorism