ISWAP Landmine Kills Eight Soldiers

Eight Nigerian soldiers were killed on Saturday when their patrol vehicle ran over a landmine allegedly planted by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists near the Nigeria-Cameroon border in Borno State.

Naija News reports that the incident occurred on the same day the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Waidi Shaibu, was in Maiduguri, the state capital, following an attack on a military base a few days earlier in which 15 soldiers and five members of an anti-jihadist militia were killed.

According to the sources, the soldiers were monitoring members of the anti-jihadist militia who were clearing bushes along the highway outside Gamboru town when their vehicle hit the explosive device, killing everyone on board.

The blast happened in Kinuba village, about 25 kilometres from Gamboru.

“All eight soldiers in the vehicle were killed in the explosion,” a military officer in the area said.

The sources attributed the attack to ISWAP, which operates in the area. Terrorists are known to hide in the bushes along the highway to launch ambushes on troops and travellers.

A member of the anti-jihadist militia supporting the military, Ibrahim Liman, confirmed the death toll.

“The explosive was planted on the dusty road and remotely detonated by a detonating cord,” he said.

Liman added that a militia member who was supervising the bush clearing sustained shrapnel injuries.

ISWAP and its rival, Boko Haram, have increasingly turned to planting explosives on highways to target both military and civilian traffic.

The jihadist insurgency, which began in 2009, has declined from its peak about a decade ago, but attacks have been on the increase over the past two years.

The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced about two million people in the North-East.

It has also spilt into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, leading to the formation of a regional military task force to tackle the insurgents.