Clashes between Nigerian forces and Boko Haram jihadists have killed nine soldiers in the northeast of the country, two military officers told AFP Thursday, days after a rival jihadist group shot dead dozens of farmers.
The fighting erupted on Tuesday as the soldiers were returning from the mass burial of the farmers, killed two days earlier in Dumba on the shores of Lake Chad, the officers said.
“We lost nine soldiers in the gunfight with Boko Haram terrorists and five others are still missing,” one of the military officers said.
Another soldier was wounded, he added.
“Seven soldiers died on the spot while two of the three injured died later in hospital,” a second military officer told AFP.
It was unclear if Boko Haram had suffered casualties.
The soldiers were going to the fishing town of Baga late on Tuesday when the firefight broke out with the Boko Haram fighters, the officer said.
They were returning from the village of Tumbun Kanta where they helped residents bury the farmers, killed on Sunday by fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) as punishment for encroaching on their territory without permission.
Local officials said 40 farmers were killed in the ISWAP attack in Tumbun Kanta and Kwatar Yobe in the Dumba area but anti-jihadist militia and locals said the death toll was more than 100.
“Boko Haram had on Monday given permission to people in the area to move into Tumbun Kanta and Kwatar Yobe and bury the dead bodies to avoid their decomposition,” Babakura Kolo, leader of an anti-jihadist militia, said.
Boko Haram anticipated an ISWAP attack on the funeral but were sighted by the soldiers who opened fire on the militants, leading to clashes, said Kolo.
ISWAP and Boko Haram have been locked in deadly infighting for territorial control since their split in 2016 over ideological differences, especially in Lake Chad which has been a sanctuary for both groups.
Since 2009, more than 40,000 people have been killed and around two million displaced from their homes in Nigeria’s northeast by the jihadist conflict.
