More than 35 Islamist fighters were killed in a Nigerian Air Force precision air strike near the Cameroon border. The Air Component carried out successive precision strikes based on multiple intelligence sources, targeting four identified assembly areas. Ground troops later confirmed that the situation around their location had been stabilized, but independent verification was not available. Attacks by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province have increased in northeastern Nigeria along borders with Cameroon, Chad and Niger. The military reported killing 592 insurgents this year; more than 40,000 people have died and about 2 million have been displaced since the fighting began, and rural areas also face armed bandit gangs.
"Acting on multiple intelligence from several sources, the Air Component executed precision strikes in successive passes, engaging the terrorists and neutralising more than 35 fighters at four identified assembly areas," the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said in a statement. Ground troops in the area later confirmed that the "situation around their location had been stabilized," the statement added. The reports could not be independently verified.
Northeastern Nigeria, along the borders with Cameroon, Chad and Niger, has seen an uptick in attacks, including against military facilities, by the Islamist group Boko Haram and their rivals, the so-called "Islamic State West Africa Province" (ISWAP). The NAF said Saturday's attack was proof of the resolve to support ground forces in the region that are battling the insurgency, "while also disrupting terrorist logistics and movement corridors along the north east border regions."
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