At least 20 Nigerian soldiers have been killed in a devastating attack on an army base in Malam-Fatori, Borno State, Al Jazeera reports, citing security sources and local residents.
The assault, suspected to have been carried out by fighters from the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), an affiliate of ISIL, took place on Friday and lasted for over three hours, a surviving soldier recounted.
The attack targeted the Nigerian Army’s 149th Battalion in Malam-Fatori, a strategically important town near the border with Niger. ISWAP fighters, arriving in gun trucks, launched a coordinated assault that resulted in the deaths of at least 20 soldiers, including a commanding officer, and left several others injured.
Residents who had fled Malam-Fatori reported seeing some of the attackers still in the area as late as Saturday night, highlighting the scale of the incursion.
The violence underscores the ongoing threat posed by ISWAP and Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria. ISWAP, which splintered from Boko Haram in 2016, has become the dominant armed faction in the region. While both groups have faced military pressure and internal divisions, they have recently intensified attacks in Borno, targeting not only security forces but also civilians, including farmers and fishermen.
The conflict, now in its 15th year, has resulted in nearly 40,000 fatalities and has displaced approximately two million people in the northeast of Nigeria. The spillover of the violence into neighboring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon has led to the establishment of a regional force to combat the militant groups.
