Jihadists from the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP) group killed six people on Saturday in an attack on a strategic garrison in northeastern Nigeria, security sources and sources said. inhabitants. Dozens of ISWAP fighters fought soldiers and government-backed militia members after the attack on the village of Monguno, near Lake Chad.
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" Two soldiers, a member of a local self-defense group and three civilians were killed in the attack, which lasted two hours, " anti-jihadist fighter Bukar Ari told AFP. Residents said the jihadists were heavily armed and began their operation by freeing prisoners before setting fire to public buildings. " They sprayed the village with rocket launchers, leaving three dead and several injured, " local resident Kulo Gana told AFP. " I saw the bodies of the two soldiers and the militiaman in the streets after the fighting ." According to these sources, the jihadists fled when the military aviation launched strikes.
ISWAP and its rival group, Boko Haram, have repeatedly attempted to seize Monguno, a strategic garrison post 135 kilometers from the regional capital, Maiduguri. ISWAP jihadists killed 81 people in an attack on a pastoralist village in Gubio district, 90 km north of Saturday's attack, on Tuesday. The jihadist insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria has killed more than 36,000 people and displaced two million since 2009.