Landmine Blast Kills Eight Soldiers in Borno

Eight Nigerian soldiers have been killed after an army patrol vehicle hit a landmine planted by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters near the border with Cameroon, defence sources have told AFP on Sunday.

The attack occurred on Saturday in Borno State, northeastern Nigeria, near the town of Gamboru. It happened on the same day Army Chief Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu visited Maiduguri following a separate attack that killed 15 soldiers and five anti-terrorist militia members.

According to the sources, troops were inspecting militia members who were clearing thick bushes along a highway outside Gamboru when their vehicle drove over the explosive and blew up. All eight soldiers on board died. A military officer in the region said the explosion occurred in Kinuba village, about 25 kilometres from Gamboru.

“All eight soldiers in the vehicle were killed in the explosion,” the officer said.

Ibrahim Liman, an anti-terrorist militia member supporting the military, confirmed the death toll. He said the landmine had been planted on the dusty road and detonated remotely.

“The explosive was planted on the dusty road and remotely detonated by a detonating cord,” Liman said.

Liman added that a militia member supervising the clearing of the bushes was injured by shrapnel.

Defence sources blamed ISWAP, a terrorist group active in the area, for the attack. The latest blast also comes days after an attack on an army base in Borno killed 15 soldiers and five anti-terrorist militia members. Shaibu visited Maiduguri on Saturday following that incident.

The wider conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced about two million from their homes in northeastern Nigeria.