A notorious ISWAP Commander Abubakar Dan-Buduma and 19 other fighters have been killed, according to the Nigerian military, during a multi-national operation in the country’s north-east.
This is coming exactly two weeks after the Nigerian Army exterminated one of the leaders in ISWAP Sani Shuwaram alongside other terrorists.
According to the military, Abubakar Dan-Buduma and the other fighters were killed in a coordinated operation combining fighter jets from neighbouring Niger and ground soldiers not far from Lake Chad’s coasts.
In recent months the ISWAP has grown in strength. It has been taken control of parts of rural north-east Nigeria – imposing taxes in areas that used to be held by rival Islamist group Boko Haram.
In recent months, the Nigerian military has been on the offensive, but it has also faced banditry in the north-west and attacks blamed on secessionists in the south-east.
Recall that in February 2018, top ISWAP Commander Abou Sadiqou Buorubouru was confirmed killed following a clash between Islamic State fighters and Boko Haram insurgents in Lake Chad.
During the encounter, Boko Haram insurgents destroyed four gun trucks belonging to ISWAP.
In early January 2022, not less than 200 fighters were killed as the Sani Shurama-led ISWAP fighters and Boko Haram insurgents under the Bakoura faction clashed in Sambisa forest, Borno State.
This was after multiple casualties were recorded on December 7, 2021, following an intense clash between fighters of ISWAP and Boko Haram loyal to the Bakoura faction in Lake Chad, Borno State.
It would be recalled that on October 30, the heavily armed Bakoura-led Buduma fighters from Chad and Niger Republic infiltrated Loko Lybie village, Lake Chad islands, in about 30 canoes
