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Jihadists kill 5 soldiers, kidnap 35 civilians in Nigeria

WION Web Team
Kano, NigeriaUpdated: Dec 20, 2020, 07:47 PM IST
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Nigeria suicide bombing kills three, injures two. Representative image. Photograph:(Reuters)

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Almost 35 civilians were kidnapped and one woman was killed in the second attack which took place in the northeast Borno state

In yet another attack on Nigeria, a group of jihadist gunmen attacked a military convoy and killed nearly five soldiers, military sources reported on Sunday.

Terrorism-hit Nigeria saw two different attacks. Almost 35 civilians were kidnapped and one woman was killed in the second attack which took place in the northeast Borno state. A group of armed men attacked a transport envoy on Saturday and kidnapped civilians by faking a checkpoint. "The ISWAP terrorists who were dressed in military uniform stopped the vehicles... Some of the passengers fled into the bush while 35 were taken hostage," a source revealed.

The attack on the military convoy was also carried out in the same area on Sunday outside of Mafa, 44 kilometres (27 miles) north of the regional capital Maiduguri. "The terrorists fired an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) on the convoy which hit one of the vehicles with five soldiers in it," AFP quoted a security source.

As of now, the attacks are being assumed to have been conducted by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). 

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The attacks have happened a couple of days after the jihadist group, Boko Haram, kidnapped and then released more than 300 schoolboys kidnapped from a boarding school.

Later, on Saturday, a group of gunmen had once again abducted nearly 80 children after they returned to Mahuta village after attending a religious ceremony. The children returned back to their homes after local vigilantes engaged in a gun battle with the kidnappers.