militants - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Nigerian military swoops on militants and oil thieves in week-long operation

NIGERIA'S military said it had inflicted heavy losses on Islamist militant groups in the north and oil thieves in the south, arresting hundreds, seizing weapons and rescuing kidnap victims in a week-long operation. Defence spokesperson Major-General Edward Buba said in a statement that troops had killed or wounded 188 militants and arrested 330 suspects across different locations in the country. Security forces also arrested 36 suspected oil thieves in the Niger Delta region and freed 133 kidnap victims, seizing around 270 weapons and more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition during the entire operation. "The armed forces are working decisively to…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Suspected militants kill four Nigerian police officers

NEWS

AT least four police officers were killed in Nigeria's northeast Borno state after a gun battle with suspected Islamist insurgents, a police spokesperson said. Borno has been the heartland of an insurgency by Boko Haram and splinter outfit Islamist State West Africa Province (ISWAP) for more than a decade in the northeast, where they continue to carry out deadly attacks against civilian and security targets. Borno state police spokesperson Nahum Daso Kenneth said the militants had on Friday night attacked Gajiram town in the Nganzai local government area, some 82 kilometres (51 miles) from Maiduguri, the state capital. "Our men…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

“Regional armies outmatched by tech-savvy jihadists”

NEWS

WEST African armies need a new strategy to combat the growing jihadist threat because improved technologies have given militants the upper hand as they seek to destabilise the Sahel region, Niger's president Mohamed Bazoum said on Monday. Groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have expanded their reach in the central Sahel since 2017, staging regular attacks that have killed thousands of people and displaced millions across Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. "Technological advances are now allowing rebel groups to access a number of tools which used to be the privilege of state forces," said Bazoum, noting the use…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

Militants kill at least 31 in central Mali, say local authorities

NEWS

MILITANTS killed at least 31 people in central Mali on Friday when they fired upon a bus ferrying people to a local market, local authorities said - the latest deadly attack in a region racked by violent insurgency. The bus was attacked by unidentified gunmen as it travelled its twice-weekly route from the village of Songho to a market in Bandiagara, 10 kilometres (6 miles) away, said Moulaye Guindo, mayor of the nearby town of Bankass. "Armed men ... shot at the vehicle, slashed the tires, and shot at the people," Guindo said. He and another local official, who spoke…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

More than 30 Nigerian soldiers killed

NEWS

MILITANTS overran an army base in northeastern Nigeria, killing more than 30 soldiers before pulling back in the face of air strikes, soldiers and a resident said. The attackers were believed to belong to the regional offshoot of Islamic State. They hit the base in Mainok town in northeast Borno state on Sunday afternoon, three soldiers and the resident told Reuters. Rising insecurity across Nigeria has killed scores of soldiers and civilians this year. Just over a month ago, about 30 soldiers were killed in four attacks by Islamist militants in northeast Nigeria. A military spokesman said they would issue…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Chad fortifies troops against Sahel militants

NEWS

MADJIASRA NAKO and JOHN IRISH CHAD will deploy some 1,000 troops to the tri-border region of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali to reinforce national armies that, backed by French and European allies, are battling Islamist insurgents, according to French and Chadian sources. The deployment will be announced during a summit on February 15-16 in the Chadian capital N'Djamena held to tackle the situation in the Sahel, a French presidency official and a senior Chadian security official said. It comes as France, which sent troops to the region in 2013 to help repel jihadists who had occupied northern Mali, considers adjusting…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Militants own up for Somali hotel bomb and gunfire

NEWS

ABDI SHEIKH and FEISAL OMAR A suspected suicide car bomb exploded on Sunday in Somalia's capital and was followed by a shootout between militants and security forces at a hotel, causing an unknown number of casualties, witnesses and authorities said. The militant Islamist group al Shabaab, which is linked to al Qaeda and often carries out bombings in its war on Somalia's government, claimed responsibility via its radio station. "A speeding car exploded near the hotel and checkpoint. The blast shook us and heavy gunfire followed," shopkeeper Ali Abdulahi told Reuters of the incident in the busy Kilometre 4 area…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigeria buries scores of farmers killed by militants, some beheaded

NEWS

LANRE OLA and MAIDUGURI NEWSROOM VILLAGERS in northeast Nigeria's Borno state buried 43 farmers killed in an attack by suspected Islamist militants while security forces searched for dozens of people who are still missing. Roughly 30 of the men killed were also beheaded in the attack, which began on Saturday morning in Zabarmari village in northeast Borno state. Residents said a total of 70 people are feared dead. While no group claimed responsibility, such massacres have been carried out in the past by Boko Haram or the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). They are both active in the region,…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Eastern Libyan forces say they killed Islamic State leader

NEWS

EASTERN Libyan forces say they killed the leader of the Islamic State group in North Africa during a raid in the southern desert city of Sebha. The Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Masmari said Abu Moaz al-Iraqi was among nine militants killed during the raid earlier this month but was only identified afterwards. Islamic State in Libya was formed by al Qaeda militants who took advantage of the chaos after the 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi to seize territory and launch attacks. The group took control of the central coastal city of Sirte in early 2015 and established a…