Suspected Islamist militants have killed at least 11 people in north-eastern Nigeria in an attack on a security convoy that was taking people displaced by an insurgency back to their homes, police and security sources said on Saturday.
Islamic State, to whom a breakaway faction of Nigerian militant group Boko Haram pledged allegiance in 2016, said on its Amaq news agency that 30 police officers and soldiers were killed in the attack on Friday on a road leading to the strategic fishing town of Baga in Borno state.
Two sources told Agence France-Presse fatalities from Friday’s attack had more than doubled as more bodies were found, and now included 12 police officers, five soldiers, four members of a government-backed militia and nine civilians.
In a statement on Saturday, Borno state police said eight police officers and three members of a government-approved militia were killed, and 13 people were wounded in the attack around noon (11.00 GMT) on Friday.
Two Nigerian military spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s president, urged security and intelligence agencies to “intensify efforts to check sabotage, sanitise the roads, venues and locations well in advance of returning [internally displaced people]”, a statement issued by his spokesman said.
Islamist militants have forced more than 2 million people to flee their homes since 2009 when Boko Haram began an insurgency aimed at creating a state adhering to a strict interpretation of sharia law. Some 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
The convoy was taking people back to Baga at the start of an initiative by authorities in Borno to relocate displaced persons to their homes. Borno is the insurgency’s birthplace and the state worst hit by the conflict.
Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) has become a dominant force in the region in recent years, targeting attacks on security forces. Boko Haram has carried out suicide bomb attacks and shooting raids on residents.
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