The Wawa military base, which had undergone an assault in July, is home to nearly 1,700 fighters affiliated to the Islamic State.
Le Monde with AFP
The Nigerian army has rejected an attack on a military base in the west of the country where nearly 1,700 jihadists are detained, killing eight presumed insurgents affiliated to the Islamic State group, said two military military sources on Monday October 31 .
Dozens of fighters from the Islamic State group in West Africa (ISWAP) tried to enter the Wawa military base on Saturday, in the State of Niger, near the border with Benin, to release hundreds of jihadists, the two officers on condition of anonymity told AFP.
This attack recalls the ability of the Iswap to knock hundreds of kilometers from its northeast stronghold, where the army fights a jihadist insurrection of thirteen years.
“The terrorists attacked the base around midnight in large numbers, but were sprayed by air support, which led to the death of eight of them,” said one of the officers. Three attackers, including their commander, were captured during the attack, he added. The army made no official comments.
Warned by information, the soldiers were waiting for the insurgents to attack the base, said a second officer who gave the same assessment. The jihadists, heavily armed, tried to explode the doors of the base, but met a “strong resistance” on the part of the soldiers, he continued: “It was obvious that they wanted to release others Terrorists detained in the base as they had done in Kuje prison. “
reinforced security in Abuja
In July, ISWAP fighters had indeed attacked Kuje prison, located near the capital Abuja, and freed hundreds of detainees, including many jihadist commanders.
Between 2017 and 2018, the Wawa base was used as a court to judge hundreds of jihadists from Boko Haram and Iswap.
Friday, Nigerian police strengthened security, especially in the capital, after warning from the United States and the United Kingdom against a “increased terrorist attack” risk in Abuja. Washington did not give more details but ordered the families of its diplomatic staff to leave Abuja.
More and more, the Iswap claims attacks far from the northeast, especially in the states of Kogi and Niger, which both border the territory of the Federal Capital (FCT), where Abuja is located. The jihadist insurgency in the northeast left nearly 40,000 dead and two million displaced.