Early Saturday morning, suspected jihadists attacked a military base not far from the town of Koduga in Borno state, and fighting ensued, officials from two paramilitary groups fighting alongside the armed forces said.
Three soldiers and 10 farmers were killed on Saturday in two separate attacks by gunmen suspected of belonging to Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria, paramilitaries fighting jihadist groups told AFP on Sunday.
Early Saturday morning, suspected jihadists attacked a military base not far from the town of Koduga in Borno state, and fighting ensued, officials from two paramilitary groups fighting alongside the armed forces said.
“Boko Haram terrorists took advantage of the darkness and the corn fields to launch their attack,” explained Ibrahim Liman, head of a paramilitary group.
“The soldiers engaged in a fierce battle” with the jihadists, “during which three of them were killed before the attack was brought under control and the attackers were forced to retreat,” he added.
Babakura Kolo, head of another paramilitary group operating in the region, confirmed the attack and its account.
On Saturday night, Boko Haram militants rounded up ten farmers and shot them while they were working in their fields in a village in Maiduguri district, the capital of Borno state, according to paramilitary Omar Ari.
Four other farmers are missing, Mr Liman said in reference to that attack, giving the same account.
Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa (ISW) have increasingly targeted loggers, herders, farmers and fishermen in northeastern Nigeria, accusing them of spying and giving the military and paramilitary forces information on their movements.
The conflict that erupted fourteen years ago in the region has caused a serious humanitarian crisis in northeastern Nigeria, as well as in southern Niger, western Chad and northern Cameroon, where jihadist activity has spread.
The four countries formed in July 2015 the so-called Joint Multinational Force (MTF), with 8,500 men, to face the jihadist organizations together.
But that joint venture could be hit hard by the late July military coup in Niger and the threat of military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States, currently held by Nigeria, to topple the junta. .
Source :Skai
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