At least eight Nigerian soldiers have been killed after their patrol vehicle struck a landmine in Borno State, with military and local security sources attributing the attack to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The incident occurred on Saturday in Kinuba village, about 25 kilometres from Gamboru, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, according to defence sources who spoke to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Sunday.
The attack came on the same day the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, visited Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, following a separate assault on a military base that reportedly claimed the lives of 15 soldiers and five members of an anti-jihadist militia.
Sources said the soldiers were inspecting militia members involved in clearing thick vegetation along a highway outside Gamboru when their patrol vehicle ran over the explosive device.
The explosion reportedly killed all eight soldiers inside the vehicle.
“All eight soldiers in the vehicle were killed in the explosion,” a military officer in the region told AFP.
Ibrahim Liman, a member of an anti-jihadist militia supporting the military, corroborated the reported death toll, explaining that the explosive had been planted along the dusty road and detonated remotely.
“The explosive was planted on the dusty road and remotely detonated by a detonating cord,” Liman said.
He added that a militia member supervising the vegetation-clearing exercise sustained shrapnel injuries in the explosion.
Military and local security sources blamed ISWAP for the attack, although the attribution has not been independently confirmed.
Landmine Attacks Intensify Security Concerns
The latest incident underscores the persistent security challenges confronting Nigerian troops operating in the North-East, where insurgents continue to deploy improvised explosive devices against military patrols and other targets.
ISWAP and its rival faction, Boko Haram, have repeatedly used landmines and other explosives to target security personnel and civilian traffic across the region.
Thick vegetation along major roads also provides cover for ambushes, increasing the risks faced by military personnel and motorists and complicating efforts to secure transport routes.
Nigeria’s insurgency began in 2009 and has claimed tens of thousands of lives, while displacing an estimated two million people from their homes across the North-East.
Although the conflict has subsided from its peak roughly a decade ago, attacks have intensified in recent years, according to the AFP report.
The violence has also spread into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting cross-border security cooperation and the deployment of a multinational military coalition to combat the insurgent groups.
