Jihadists stormed a military base in northeastern Nigeria on Thursday, killing several soldiers and a brigadier general, the second to die in an attack in the country in five months.

This brings to nearly one hundred the number of people killed since Sunday in northern Nigeria by jihadists and criminal gangs, who have intensified their raids against military bases and villages in these regions close to the Sahel since last year.

Africa's most populous country has been facing a jihadist insurgency for 17 years, triggered in 2009 by violence from the armed group Boko Haram, and also fueled by powerful dissident factions such as the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP).

"Attackers stormed the Benisheikh military base, destroying several military vehicles," Zannah Lawan Ajimi, head of the Kaga local administration, told AFP by telephone. "Unfortunately, the brigade commander, Brigadier General OO Braimah, lost his life," he added.

The attack took place overnight from Wednesday to Thursday at the base located about 75 kilometers from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, an intelligence source told AFP, indicating that the unidentified jihadists killed at least 18 soldiers and set fire to vehicles.

This source and another within the intelligence community confirmed to AFP the death of the brigadier general.

"They gained the upper hand over the brigade," the first source emphasized. The second indicated that "the terrorists killed several soldiers" and "set fire to vehicles and buildings before retreating," without providing a precise casualty count.

OO Braimah's death comes after that of Brigadier General Musa Uba, killed by the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP) in November, the highest-ranking Nigerian military officer to have died since 2021.

According to the army, the attackers "attempted to breach the defensive perimeter of the military installation" but were "vigorously fought and forced to retreat in disorder."

She lamented in a statement "the loss of some brave and valiant soldiers", without giving a precise number.

— Raids and kidnappings —

Before this attack, at least 90 other people had already been killed since Sunday in several isolated villages in the northwest, according to an AFP tally based on reports provided by local and humanitarian sources.

The death toll from one of these attacks, perpetrated on Tuesday in Niger State, rose on Thursday from 20 to 50.

The violence that has escalated in northern Nigeria in recent months is fueled by both jihadist groups and criminal gangs, locally known as "bandits." They frequently attack villages, regularly abducting dozens of people and demanding ransoms for their release. These attacks regularly trigger massive population displacements.

On Wednesday, the United States announced it would allow non-essential government personnel based in the federal capital Abuja to leave, "due to the deteriorating security situation".

The ACLED conflict observatory also pointed to a resurgence of violence in the region, attributed to groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

In December, the United States, with support from Nigeria, bombed the northwest of Sokoto State, also in the north, targeting fighters from the Islamic State in the Sahel (ISSP), usually present in neighboring Niger, as well as in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Washington has since begun deploying 200 troops to Nigeria to support and train Nigerian soldiers in their fight against jihadist groups.

AFP