Fifteen soldiers and four Civilian Joint Task Force ((CJTF) members were killed when Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists ambushed a military convoy near Gudumbali in the Lake Chad region.
“We lost 15 soldiers and four civilian JTF (militia) in the terrorists’ ambush in the forest near Gudumbali,” a military officer, who asked not to be identified, told the French news agency, AFP.
He said 13 government fighters, including 10 troops, were wounded in the ambush.
The source said that the 10-vehicle convoy was on its way to Gudumbali from the town of Kukawa in Borno for a military operation against the terrorists when it came under fir.
On Saturday, ISWAP issued a statement, claiming responsibility for the ambush, according to the SITE jihadist-monitoring agency.
ISWAP, which split from the jihadist group Boko Haram in 2016, has become a dominant threat in Nigeria, attacking troops and bases while killing and kidnapping passengers at bogus checkpoints. (AFP)