Two commanders, 32 fighters killed as Boko Haram, ISWAP clash in Sambisa forest

Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists have clashed, resulting in the killing of two Commanders and 32 fighters in Sambisa Forest of Borno State.

A counter insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, yesterday in Maiduguri, stated that separate clashes of the terror groups occurred at Yale in Damboa and Gargash village in Bama Council.

He added that the 32 casualties were from both sides of the terror groups.

“Two ISWAP Khaids were killed along with four other fighters in an ambush by the rival Boko Haram faction in Yale village,” he said.

He disclosed that the terrorists were killed on April 19, 2022, while moving at night to a newly established ISWAP camp in the forest.

Besides, he revealed that four other ISWAP fighters were caught alive, disarmed and slaughtered by the rival terror group.

According to him, three trucks belonging to ISWAP were also seized by Boko Haram.

Makama further revealed that a top Boko Haram leader, Ambu Mairamiri, had on April 20, 2022, led large numbers of heavily armed Boko Haram insurgents to invade an ISWAP settlement near Ngurosoye.

He said that the invasion led to a heavy gun battle, which lasted for over two hours and claimed many lives.

A military source in Maiduguri also told The Guardian that the mutually destructive fight led to the death of about 18 ISWAP terrorists while six Boko Haram fighters were also killed.

It was gathered that Mairamiri, who vowed to eliminate all ISWAP terrorists, ordered his men to set ablaze four gun trucks belonging to ISWAP as well as their newly erected makeshift tents in the forest.

The source also stated that the infighting between the two terror groups has taken a new dimension as Boko Haram continue to hunt for ISWAP terrorists at night.

He noted that Boko Haram terrorists were familiar with forest terrains while ISWAP coordinates reprisal attacks during the daytime.

The source added that the intensified Operation Desert and Lake Sanity had forced many ISWAP terrorists and their families to relocate to safer locations in Mandara Mountain.

Other hideouts, according to him, include Gargash, Izza, Bula Bakakai and Gobara as well as the rock of Ngulde in Chibok council.

“The risk of exposure and battlefield elimination could increase the rate of surrender among the terrorists in the forest and Lake Chad region,” he said. (The Guardian)