The development came on the heel of attacks by the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) on the military post in Diffa, in the Niger Republic, along a border area with Nigeria this week.
PRNigeria had obtained the video of the said attack as was also reflected in the Islamic State’s ‘Amaq News Agency, showing their fighters storming a Nigerien army post in Diffa and allegedly captured war spoils afterwards.
The two minutes, five seconds video was published on May 4, 2020, hours after it issued a report on the incident in an official IS communique, claiming that theirs “fighters killed five Nigerien soldiers and wounded others when they attacked the post on May 3”. The video footage also showed some scenes from the clash, where the fighters entered the post on foot and in vehicles, taking weapons and ammunition.
But information obtained by PRNigeria from intelligence sources noted that the military camp was virtually empty before their arrival as the troops were out on counter-insurgency operations along the Lake Chad axis.
According to the sources, the few soldiers on ground retreated because of the large number of terrorists.
“The military intelligence has so far arrested 28 notorious informants who were leaking troop movements to terrorists. The suspects, under interrogation, have provided useful information that could lead to major crackdown on local collaborators and supporters in that axis,” the source said.
PRNigeria also gathered that Chadian troops have stopped participating in regional Counter-Terrorism joint military operation under MNJTF.
Recall that President Idris Deby, at the end of a Chadian major offensive against Boko Haram in April warned that his troops would no longer take part in military operations outside the country’s borders.
The offensive was launched after about 100 Chadian troops were killed in a terrorists attack on a base at Bohoma in March 2020
With the seeming withdrawal of Chadian troops, the activities of terrorists are unabated in the Lake Chad region and the Sahel. The Nigerian and Nigerien troops have sustained aerial attacks and ground operations against ISWAP and Boko Haram Terrorists.
