(Kano) Fierce fighting this weekend pitted Boko Haram fighters against another jihadist group, affiliated with the Islamic State, in the Lake Chad region, anti-jihadist militiamen said on Monday, citing “more than 60 dead.”
The fighting took place on Friday and Saturday when Islamic State West Africa (ISWAP) fighters ambushed a fleet of Boko Haram boats on the islet of Kaduna Ruwa in Lake Chad. straddling Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, these sources indicated.
“The fighting started around 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) and continued until Saturday morning. Nine Boko Haram boats and all the fighters on them were sunk,” Ibrahim Liman, an anti-jihadist militia leader in the region, told AFP.
In addition to the fighters, several dozen hostages kidnapped two weeks earlier were present on these boats. “At least 60 people died, at least, if we count the fighters and their dozens of hostages,” assured Mr. Liman.
“We do not have a definitive report from the fighting but there will certainly be more than 60 dead. Nine boats sank, and […] we know that the rebels charge them a lot when they are in operation,” added another anti-jihadist militia leader, Kabiru Habu.
However, no body has yet been found, according to local sources, and no confirmation of this toll was available Monday from local authorities.
Abductions
Two weeks earlier, Boko Haram fighters had left their camp in the Diffa region of Niger to reach the island of Doron Baga on the Nigerian shore of Lake Chad, terrorizing the inhabitants with looting and kidnappings, told AFP Sallau Arzika, a fisherman from the village of Baga.
They kidnapped several dozen people, including fishermen and at least eight Fulani women, according to Mr. Arzika and Labo Sani, also a fisherman.
The jihadists decapitated one of the fishermen and gave his head to other fishermen responsible for bringing it to a military contingent in Cameroon to threaten them with an attack, according to these sources.
They were intercepted by ISWAP troops who then tracked down their rivals and attacked the Boko Haram fighters and their hostages.
In February and March, the two factions of Boko Haram and ISWAP clashed for control of the Lake Chad islands. Each lost many men in combat, according to fishermen and local anti-jihadist militiamen.
The jihadist conflict has caused the death of more than 40,000 people in northeastern Nigeria and the displacement of more than 2 million people since 2009.