Jihadist attacks intensify on Nigeria’s military bases, AP reports

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Jihadist groups including Boko Haram and an ISWAP faction have intensified attacks targeting Nigeria’s military bases in the country’s northeast, according to the Associated Press and analysts cited in the report. The renewed strikes have occurred over the last week and have left officers and soldiers dead, while attackers took weapons and other military equipment from the bases, the report said.

The Associated Press reported that at least six attacks were carried out over the weekend in Borno and Yobe states and in the wider Lake Chad region. Security analysts and security reports cited by the news agency said the raids involved militants taking trucks and military hardware from the bases as they carried out the assaults.

Nigeria’s military said in a statement that the latest attacks between Sunday and Monday were an “attempt by the terrorists to overwhelm troop positions.” Late Monday, military spokesman Sani Uba said the troops lost an unspecified number of soldiers and a military officer, without providing additional details, the AP reported.

The reported deaths add to losses in the preceding week, with the Associated Press saying the toll included several soldiers and at least one officer from earlier attacks. The report also said security analysts estimate at least four military officers were killed in that wider period.

Analysts told the Associated Press that the raids show an unusually high level of coordination. Vincent Foucher, a senior research fellow with France’s National Center for Scientific Research, said the attacks demonstrate “a remarkable level of coordination,” and the report said Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP, has staged a growing number of attacks against the military in recent months.

In the Associated Press account, the militant raids were also linked to weapon-restocking tactics. Taiwo Adebayo of the Africa-focused Institute for Security Studies said a key goal of the jihadis is to restock their weapons arsenal, adding that when they hit camps they “strip the base of weapons, burn it down and retreat into the forests.” Another analyst, Malik Samuel of Good Governance Africa, said that as long as military bases are vulnerable to being overrun, ISWAP “does not need to spend money buying arms.”

The Associated Press said the attacks have angered Nigerians, with some residents accusing President Bola Tinubu’s government and the ruling party of focusing on next year’s presidential election. In the report, observers also said the current scale is notable, describing it as the first time in recent history that ISWAP successfully launched simultaneous attacks of comparable size across the region.

The fighting has continued despite U.S. support for Nigerian operations, the Associated Press reported. It said the United States has deployed at least 100 troops to support Nigeria’s military with training and logistics as part of a new security partnership, and that U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights have supported Nigerian forces since the U.S. began intervening in December.

Officials cited by the Associated Press said those flights have helped Nigerian forces intensify aerial bombardment of jihadi hideouts. Adebayo said, however, that ISWAP continues to mount coordinated attacks, highlighting both sophistication and the group’s strength.

A central challenge in the region remains limited security-force presence and government reach in conflict hot spots, the Associated Press reported. Adebayo said the Nigerian military lacks capacity for sustained operations and quickly shifts attention to other areas, allowing armed groups to regroup and deliver attacks elsewhere.