ISWAP Attacks Niger Military Base, MNJTF Bombards Fleeing Fighters
Niger’s Defence and Security Forces said they repelled an attack by ISWAP on a military base near Doutchi Bridge in the Niger – Nigeria border town of Diffa on Sunday, May 3.
A propaganda video released by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) showed insurgents storming the base and looting large quantities of ammunition, gun trucks, and what appeared to be type 63 107mm Multiple rockets launching systems, while others burnt structures before they withdrew.
Nigerien Authorities also disclosed a Joint Nigerien and Nigerian military air raid the same day, which intercepted a convoy that resulted in the killing of 50 terrorists in Dumba’a village at the Niger-Nigeria border.
Similarly, Nigerien and Nigerian Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft tracked the ISWAP fighters as they crossed the border in eight gun trucks to their harbour within the Islands of Lake Chad.
The operation was confirmed by Timothy Antigha, Chief Of Military Public Information, Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) against Boko Haram.
Antigha said that the location was subsequently interdicted through a joint fire by the artillery of MNJTF Sector 3 (Nigeria) and Nigerian Air Force attack aircraft which resulted in the killing of several terrorists as well as the destruction of their vehicles and equipment.
The Niger southwestern Diffa region has suffered from several attacks over the years.
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees website, the region hosts around 263,000 people displaced by violence in Lake Chad, about 50 per cent of whom are refugees from Nigeria.
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