Terrorists belonging to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) killed 30 men in a revenge attack days after their top commanders were killed in military air strikes in Nigeria’s northeast Borno state.
Militia leaders speaking to news agency AFP said that the terrorists seized the men from Mudu village of Nigeria’s Dikwa earlier on Saturday.
A militia leader, Babakura Kolo told AFP, that most of the men were slaughtered by the ISWAP but many who tried to flee were shot.
Kolo who is stationed in Maiduguri said that the men were metal scrap scavengers who were in the area in search of burnt vehicles which are now common in villages in northern Borno following the Islamist violence in the region.
Militia leader Umar Ari said that the ISWAP killed the men after accusing them of passing information on their positions to the military in the area.
Another report by Nigerian news agency Vanguard.ng said that terrorists also attacked Gakurdi village in Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State, killing 12 residents.
The region recently saw heavy clashes between the terrorists and the army.
Last week, Top Boko Haram leader Abubakar Sarki who wielded huge control in Sambisa Forest was eliminated in the Operation Hadin Kai launched by the Nigerian military.
While clashes between the army and the ISWAP are common, the group also faces attacks from Boko Haram of which it was a part of until 2016.
On Tuesday, Boko Haram fighters of the Jama’at Ahl as Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad (JAS) six ISWAP fighters in the Sambisa forest.
These two Islamist jihadist terror groups fight among themselves regularly to gain control while also fighting the military.
But recently these groups are targeting civilians – mostly poor people who live collecting firewood and scrap items and farmers and herders – accusing them of spying on ISWAP.
At least two million people in the region were displaced and the jihadist violence has killed more than 40,000 people.
Niger, Chad and Cameroon, also Mali, has seen a major spike in jihadist violence following the rise of the ISWAP. Regional and international military coalitions are being formed to fight the jihadists.
(with inputs from AFP, Vanguard.ng and DailyPost.ng)
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