Dozens of people killed in Nigeria in fighting between the army and jihadists: sources

Violent clashes between a regional force and ISIS-affiliated fighters in north-eastern Nigeria left 25 dead and at least 40 jihadists, two military sources and a militia leader said on Thursday.

Fighters from the Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP) group on Monday launched a morning attack on a base near the town of Baga on the shores of Lake Chad, triggering fierce rifle battles that killed 20 Nigerian soldiers and five Chadian soldiers, said these sources.

"The terrorists killed 20 Nigerian soldiers and five Chadian soldiers in the intense fight in which 47 soldiers were killed," said a military officer to AFP.

The leader of a local anti-jihadist militia confirmed the death toll and estimated the death toll at ISWAP at "over 40".

In a statement released Monday by the Multinational Joint Force (MNJTF), 10 jihadists and one soldier were killed at the base while five soldiers were wounded.

The MNJTF is an anti-military force composed of five countries and based in N'Djamena, the Chadian capital, and composed of Nigerian, Nigerian, Nepalese, Cameroonian and Beninese troops set up to fight jihadists in the Lake District. Chad.

The army is known to minimize its losses in the fight against jihadists.

The sources said the jihadist raid on the base was postponed and the fighters on the run were later greeted by a convoy of special forces supplying the regional capital Maiduguri.

"They met special forces who had been alerted by troops in the base and other terrorists were killed during a brief meeting," said a second military officer.

ISWAP said on Wednesday it killed 15 soldiers in clashes near Baga.

The MNJTF base four miles from Baga has been attacked several times since 2014.

Last December, the ISWAP seized Baga and the base during an offensive that cost the lives of several soldiers and militiamen.

Although the MNJTF base was restored weeks later, Baga and a separate naval base on Lake Chad remain under the control of ISWAP, according to local and security sources.

The decade-long jihadist violence campaign killed some 27,000 people, displaced more than two million, and spread to neighboring countries.

ISWAP is separated from the main jihadist group of Boko Haram in 2016 due to ideological differences.