MAIDUGURI, Nigeria
Islamist militants have killed about 30 government soldiers in a series of clashes in northeast Nigeria since Wednesday, military and civilian militia sources said on Sunday.
Security
across Nigeria has been deteriorating in recent months, including in the
northeast.
Four
attacks claimed the lives of at least 27 soldiers and 10 members of the
Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), including a unit head, the sources told
Reuters.
CJTF are
local groups of armed men who protect the areas where they live, mainly against
Islamist insurgents. They are not members of the military but often fight
alongside soldiers.
Neither
Army nor defence headquarters spokesmen took calls or responded to messages
requesting comment.
Islamic
State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the regional affiliate of Islamic State,
claimed credit for a Friday attack in Monguno, via its Amaq news agency on
Saturday.
ISWAP
said it had killed 33 soldiers and captured one. Two military sources and one
CJTF fighter said the attack, which took place between Monguno and Kukawa, had
killed between 11 and 15 soldiers, with several still missing. Four CJTF
fighters were also killed.
Soldiers
also killed eight militants in fighting in Gamdu on Wednesday, the sources
said.
A more
than decade-long Islamist insurgency in northeast Nigeria waged by Boko Haram
and later ISWAP has displaced about 2 million people and killed more than
30,000.
In Kaduna
state in northwest Nigeria, armed men attempted to kidnap more students, a
state government official said, as 39 others from an earlier attack remain missing.
Four school kidnappings since December have provoked nationwide outrage.
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