Following information that an attack on ground troops was being planned, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) claims to have killed at least 35 armed fighters in airstrikes close to the nation’s border with Cameroon.
According to NAF spokesman Ehimen Ejodame, the strikes were launched on Saturday on four targets in Borno State’s Kumshe region, which is close to the border with Nigeria.
He claimed that after the operation, ground troops’ communication was reestablished, and that stabilizing conditions had been established.
The Nigerian military’s latest strikes come as it fights a resurgence of attacks in the country’s troubled northeast.
Boko Haram and its rival splinter group, ISIL (ISIS), West Africa Province (ISWAP), frequently attack the area.
In northeastern Nigeria, which borders Chad and Niger as well as Cameroon, both ISWAP and Boko Haram have recently increased their military assaults. Armed fighters have taken over military installations, killing soldiers, and seizing weapons.
Attacks have increased since the start of the year, despite Nigeria’s 16-year-old armed conflict slowing down since the violence reached its peak in 2015.
More than 35, 000 civilians have been killed and more than 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes, according to the UN.
Under the condition that Congress approves, the US State Department last week approved the sale of $346 million worth of weapons, including bombs, rockets, and munitions to Nigeria.
According to the department, the weapons would “improve Nigeria’s capacity to face current and future threats through operations against terrorist organizations.”
Source: Aljazeera
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