In separate attacks, in two consecutive days, Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) jihadists have killed six people and abducted 35 others.
The attacks on Friday and Saturday took place a couple of kilometers from the Borno State capital, Maiduguri.
A string of attacks.
Late Friday, ISWAP militants set up a fake checkpoint about 25 kilometers from Maiduguri, in Garin Kuturu village outside Jakana.
A pro-government militia official said the ISWAP terrorists, dressed in military uniforms, stopped the vehicles and took 35 passengers hostage while some of the passengers fled to the bush. A woman was shot dead and several others injured when the jihadists opened fire on those running into the bush.
Saturday attack targeted on a military convoy took place outside of Mafa, 44 kilometers from Maiduguri.
A security source said the terrorists fired a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) on the convoy hitting one of the vehicles and killing all the five soldiers on board. The militias further seized two vehicles in the attack.
On the same day, Saturday, in Konduga town, 40 kilometers from Maiduguri, a teenage girl affiliated to Boko Haram blew herself up, killing three people.
Who is ISWAP?
ISWAP broke off from Boko Haram six years ago and has risen to become dominant.
The militant group’s center of attention is on military targets, ambushing troops, raiding bases, and planting mines on the road. However, the jihadists have recently carried out attacks on civilians, abducting some of them.
Warning of alliance
Experts have warned of a possible formation of an alliance between the jihadists and criminal gangs in northwest Nigeria.
The violence by these criminal gangs alone has killed about 8,000 people. Besides, the criminal gangs have been kidnapping for ransom, raiding cattle and villages, and looting and burning homes.
Locals step up
On Sunday, a group of government-supported activists patrolled the Maiduguri-Damataru highway for mobilization purposes.
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