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Nigeria: Questions Mount Over U.S. Airstrikes in Northern Nigeria$

By Leslie Varenne, MondAfrique: The American strikes carried out in Nigeria on Christmas Day raise serious questions. Beyond the confusion surrounding the objectives of the operation, inconsistencies in official statements, and the unclear nature of the targets, the...

Nigeria grapples with end of fuel subsidyF

By Alexandre Martins Lopes: Nigerians are struggling with surging fuel prices after newly elected President Bola Tinubu declared an end to popular subsidies, a move analysts and experts said was long overdue. On his first day in office, Tinubu kept to his campaign...

ISWAP strikes in Gubio LGA, Borno stateF

Posted On 21 June 2020

Kano, Nigeria, June 21, 2020 – Jihadists linked to the Islamic State have killed six people in raids on herding villages in northeast Nigeria, militia and residents said Sunday. Fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked Bunuri and Gaderi villages as well as a nearby herding settlement in Gubio district late Saturday, stealing livestock and killing residents, they said.  “The insurgents killed six people in the attacks and stole more than 3,000 cattle,” militia leader Ibrahim Liman told AFP.

The assailants riding in pickup trucks fitted with machine guns stormed into Bunuri around 1630 GMT, killing three people and taking hundreds of herds, according to Umara Kyari from nearby Tungushe village. “We buried three people killed in the attack this morning,” said Kyari, who attended the funeral. The jihadists attacked Gaderi after dark, taking along “more than 2,000 cows” after killing three residents who tried to stop them, Liman said.

ISWAP has in recent days carried out deadly attacks on herding communities in the area. The attacks have raised fears the group is changing tactics to target  civilians who have been largely spared in the past. The group has previously targeted troops and military installations.  Late on Saturday ISWAP fighters made a foiled attempt to overrun a military base in the town of Konduga, 38 kilometres (23 miles) from the regional capital Maiduguri, military and militia sources said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Nigeria’s decade-long conflict which has spilled into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, has killed 36,000 people and displaced 1.8 million in the country’s northeast alone.

AFP

Recent News from Nigeria

Nigeria Adjusts Airstrike Strategy Under Expanded U.S. Security Cooperation$

Nigeria is modifying how it conducts air operations against armed groups under a revised security arrangement with the United States. The new framework places greater emphasis on U.S. intelligence and reconnaissance support while shifting operational responsibility to Nigerian forces. The approach reflects Abuja’s effort to balance external assistance with domestic control amid ongoing security challenges in the country’s northwest.

Nigeria: Questions Mount Over U.S. Airstrikes in Northern Nigeria$

The U.S. airstrikes carried out in northern Nigeria on Christmas Day have triggered confusion and skepticism across the region. Conflicting statements from Washington and Abuja, uncertainty over the identity of the targeted groups, and reports from strike locations where no militants were found have raised serious questions about the operation’s objectives. In an already fragile security environment, the lack of clarity risks adding instability rather than addressing Nigeria’s complex security challenges.

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