KANO (Nigeria), July 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Militants shot dead 10 Nigerian soldiers in two incidents in the country’s restive northeast, security sources said.
The assailants gunned down eight troops in an attack on a military convoy near Kumulla village, roughly 40 kilometres southwest of regional capital Maiduguri.
Hours later two soldiers were killed in a separate “firefight” after a military patrol encountered a group of insurgents in Kolore village, around 50 kilometres west of Maiduguri.
The latest losses for the Nigerian military come after at least 35 troops were killed last week in an attack by fighters loyal to the so-called Daesh group near Kumulla.
Militants have waged a decade-long insurgency in the region that has left 36,000 people dead and displaced some two million.
Fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction split from the main Boko Haram group in 2016 and have become a dominant force.
ISWAP has focused most of its attacks on military targets but has increasingly carried out deadly attacks on civilians in recent months. — NNN-AGENCIES
