Nigerian Forces Kill 50 Militants in Drone-Led Clashes

Nigeria’s military said on Thursday that it had killed at least 50 jihadists in a series of clashes following coordinated attacks on army bases in the country’s volatile northeast.

Troops, backed by fighter jets, engaged insurgents in the early hours of Thursday after militants launched simultaneous assaults on bases in the towns of Dikwa, Mafa, and Gajibo in Borno State, as well as in Katarko in neighbouring Yobe State, a military spokesman said.

The statement did not specify which faction was behind the attacks, but intelligence sources said the assaults were carried out by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters.

“The combined ground and air efforts resulted in the neutralisation of over 50 terrorists across all the locations,” said Lieutenant Colonel Sani Uba, the military spokesman. He added that several soldiers were wounded, though no exact figures were provided.

“Some vehicles and buildings were also gutted by fire from the terrorists’ armed drones and RPG fire, especially in Mafa and Dikwa, where a section of the defences was briefly breached,” Uba said.

Authorities said militants increasingly use modified commercial drones capable of dropping small explosives or grenades during such assaults.

Residents in Mafa reported widespread damage, showing images and videos of burnt-out trucks that had been set ablaze by the attackers. Locals said many of the vehicles were carrying cement to Chad and had been parked overnight due to fears of militant ambushes along the highway.

Nigeria’s military has been battling Boko Haram and its ISWAP offshoot for more than 16 years. Both groups seek to establish an Islamist caliphate in the northeast.

The conflict has claimed more than 40,000 lives and displaced about two million people, spilling into neighbouring Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, and prompting the formation of a regional military coalition to combat the insurgency.