Eleven members of the security forces, including 4 soldiers, were killed in two attacks attributed to the jihadist group Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria, security sources said on Tuesday.
Tuesday evening, the convoy of local hunters recruited by the army in the fight against the jihadists exploded on a mine in the village of Kayamla, located 10 kilometers from Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, epicenter of the insurgency jihadist in the northeast.
Read also: Nigeria: release of dozens of schoolchildren after another kidnapping
"Seven hunters died in the explosion and nine others were seriously injured,"
the head of a pro-government anti-jihadist militia, Babakura Kolo, told AFP.
“Their vehicle exploded on a mine while they were chasing elements of Boko Haram”
who had stolen a herd of oxen, he added.
The results of the attack were confirmed to AFP by another militiaman from a self-defense group, Umar Ari.
For the past two years, authorities have recruited local hunters to assist the military in its fight against Boko Haram and its rival faction, the Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap) group in northeastern Nigeria.
On Monday morning, four Nigerian soldiers were also killed in an explosion caused by the passage of their vehicle over a mine near the village of Logomani, near the Cameroonian border, according to two security sources at AFP.
There has been a sharp upsurge in attacks since the start of December in northeast Nigeria.
Over this Christmas weekend dozens of woodcutters were kidnapped near Gamboru, 11 people were killed near Chibok, and a pastor was kidnapped while preparing for the celebrations.
Boko Haram, and the Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap) group, both very active in the Lake Chad region, have killed at least 36,000 since the start of the insurgency in 2009, and two million people still cannot return to their homes because of the violence.
