By Muhammed Akindele
The Nigeria’s military says it has killed 35 jihadists in a series of air strikes near the country’s north-eastern border with Cameroon.
In a statement released, the military said the strikes were carried out in four locations to prevent an attempted attack on ground troops by the insurgents.
Nigeria has battled jihadist groups for more than a decade, alongside violent criminal gangs, sectarian clashes, and widespread kidnappings for ransom. More than 35,000 people have been killed and over two million displaced in the conflict, according to the United Nations.
On Saturday, a coalition of prominent Nigerians, including former ministers, business leaders, and civil society activists, expressed concern over what they described as “war-time levels of slaughter” despite the country being officially at peace.
They cited a May report by Amnesty International, which estimated that at least 10,217 people had been killed since President Bola Tinubu took office two years ago.
The group urged the creation of a Presidential Task Force with sweeping powers to tackle the multiple conflicts, including the renewed activities of Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the north-east.
Last week, the Nigerian Army claimed it had killed nearly 600 militants in the region in the past eight months, though there is no independent confirmation of the figures. The Nigerian Air Force said it would continue providing air support for troops targeting jihadist bases.
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) reported that at least 15 jihadist attacks have taken place this year near Nigeria’s borders with Cameroon and Niger. It noted that militants have been deploying modified commercial drones to hit army bases and disrupt reinforcements.
Earlier this month, the United States approved a $346m (₦256bn) arms sale to Nigeria to boost its counter-insurgency operations.
