About fifty jihadists who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State were killed in a landmine explosion near Lake Chad in northeastern Nigeria, sources in anti-jihadist paramilitary groups told AFP on Monday.

Two trucks carrying Islamic State in West Africa (ISW) fighters were destroyed on Sunday when a landmine exploded outside the village of Arina Masalaki in Borno state, according to two officials of paramilitary organizations that support the Nigerian army.

“The trucks were full of fighters when the one in front hit a mine and exploded, also blowing up the second one that followed a short distance away,” Babakura Kolo explained.

“About fifty jihadists in the two vehicles were killed and others were injured,” he added.

The militants were preparing to launch an attack when they hit the landmine around 10:00 a.m. (GMT), another paramilitary leader, Ibrahim Liman, said, giving the same account.

The IDF, which was created when the jihadist group Boko Haram split in 2016, is particularly active in the Lake Chad region, where it has been involved in fighting mainly with its jihadist rivals.

“We believe that those who planted the mine some time ago were targeting the Nigerian army forces who regularly patrol the area, but (the jihadists) ended up falling into the trap they had set themselves,” estimated Mr Liman.

Boko Haram and IKDA are known to place mines on roads to hit military convoys as well as civilians.

The jihadist insurgency in Nigeria and operations to suppress it over the past 14 years have claimed the lives of at least 40,000 people and displaced more than two million more.