This archive report was first published on 19 August 2019.
At least four Nigerian soldiers lost their lives in an ambush by suspected Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters in the country's restive northeast on Sunday, according to two military sources.
The attack occurred in Mogula village, close to the border with Cameroon, where attackers opened fire on a military patrol, killing four soldiers and seizing two machine guns, one of the sources revealed.
"Our troops came under attack by ISWAP terrorists in Mogula in an ambush in which we lost four soldiers," the first source said.
ISWAP, which split from the Boko Haram faction in 2016, has been asserting its presence in areas near the border with Cameroon controlled by Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau's group in recent weeks.
On August 10, ISWAP fighters on motorcycles ambushed a military convoy 28 kilometres from Mogula in an unsuccessful attempt to seize weapons, the sources said.
Since July last year, ISWAP has intensified attacks on military targets, raiding bases and ambushing troops.
The decade-long insurgency in northeast Nigeria has claimed over 27,000 lives and forced around two million people from their homes.
