NIAMEY, Niger
The vast basin has become the epicentre
of violence led by Nigeria's Boko Haram and its rival branch Islamic State West
Africa Province (ISWAP).
“The aim of this special operation was to neutralize the ISWAP bases in the Matari forest (of Nigeria) from where every year attacks are led” on three towns with army outposts in Niger, the multinational force said.
The bombardment took place
late last week after observing “about 50 terrorists” in the region on Friday
and Saturday, a statement said, adding that much of the operation was carried
out by troops from Niger “with the support of a drone from American partners.”
The multinational force said
it suffered no losses but said 36 suspected terrorists were captured and an
encampment and base camp were “destroyed.”
“A large number of these
criminals on the run ... were intercepted,” the statement said.
The three towns of Maine
Soroa, Chetinari and Chetimari Wangou, located in the Diffa region of
southeastern Niger have suffered repeated jihadist attacks since 2015.
Maine Soroa, located some
forty-five miles from Diffa, had been spared until 2019 when a violent attack
saw international NGO, Doctors without Borders (MSF) pull out after suspected
jihadists raided its offices there.
The military post at Chetimari
Wangou, some 25 kilometers from Diffa, has been attacked by ISWAP on several
occasions.
In June last year, the
multinational force announced it had killed more than 800 ISWAP fighters over
two months in the vast marshy Lake Chad area, bordering the four nations.
Nigerian security forces are
battling Boko Haram and ISWAP jihadists in the country's northeast, where the
conflict has killed 40,000 people and displaced 2.2 million more.
The four nations set up the
8,500-strong multinational force in 2015 to tackle the armed groups.
Last week, states around Lake
Chad and international donors pledged more than $500 million at a conference in
Niamey, the Nigerien capital to help the millions of civilians threatened by
jihadist insurgents and climate change in the region.
No comments:
Post a Comment