No respite is given to the populations and aid workers in northern Nigeria. On Monday, jihadists linked to the Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap) group attacked a UN base in the town of Dikwa. In the evening they tried to enter a secure space where 25 aid workers took refuge. “Iswap terrorists launched a simultaneous attack on a supercamp (military base) and on a UN humanitarian base,” according to the military source. “The humanitarian base has been set on fire by combatants, but so far no employee has been hit,” the humanitarian source told AFP. “We have 25 employees who have taken refuge in a bunker, which the insurgents are currently trying to invade,” she said, confirming information from the head of the army. Military reinforcements based in the town of Marte, 40 kilometers away, were dispatched to help repel the jihadists, the humanitarian source said. “Two planes and a helicopter provide air support, in order to scare the jihadists away from the humanitarian base,” it was added. Three years ago, the 1is March 2018, Iswap fighters attacked a UN base in the town of Rann, in northeast Nigeria. Eight members of the security forces were killed as well as three Nigerian employees of Unicef and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The aftermath of a stuck conflict and that the election of Buhari did not settle
Northeastern Nigeria has been in the throes of deadly conflict since 2009 and the launch of attacks by Boko Haram Islamists. In 2016, the group split, with, on the one hand, the historical faction and, on the other, the Islamic State in West Africa, recognized by the Islamic State group. The conflict, which has claimed more than 36,000 lives and more than two million displaced since 2009, is bogged down.
On February 15, Iswap fighters took control of the strategic town of Marte, from which reinforcements left on Monday evening, after overwhelming garrisoned soldiers. The military regained control of the city a week later. That same week, the other jihadist group, Boko Haram, also attacked with mortar Maiduguri, the regional capital of Borno State, the epicenter of the revolt. This attack left at least 16 dead and dozens injured.
Since the end of 2020, deadly attacks have intensified in the region, prompting President Muhammadu Buhari, under fire from critics, to replace the four main army chiefs at the end of January. The president, a former putschist general in the 1980s, was elected in 2015 on the promise of crushing this jihadist rebellion. But, six years later, the Boko Haram and Iswap groups still control large rural areas and strategic roads, where they increase attacks and kidnappings of soldiers, civilians and members of NGOs.
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