An infighting that broke out Friday between Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) fighters near Marte, Borno State, North-east Nigeria, has allegedly led to the death of more than 100 terrorists on the two sides.
Security sources aware of the clash between both Islamist groups said the fighting intensified on Saturday as more fighters were killed on both sides.
PREMIUM TIMES reliably gathered that the fighting broke out between the Bakoura Buduma -led faction of Boko Haram and ISWAP over the control of turf around the Lake Chad Basin.
The battle continued into Saturday in the areas surrounding Bakuram on the fringes of Lake Chad.
Sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the ISWAP faction was trying to retaliate against the abduction of 60 of its fighters and three commanders by Boko Haram.
This newspaper learnt that the latest battle was the worst confrontation between both previously aligned groups.
ISWAP in the area is led by one Abou Idris, a former chief of operation of Boko Haram, who defected to join ISWAP.
“There were casualties on both sides of the groups, but the ISWAP group had killed more Boko Haram terrorists.
“As we speak now, the battle is still ongoing with over 100 of the terrorists killed on both sides”, one of our sources narrated.
However, when contacted, the spokesperson of the Defence Headquarters, Onyema Nwachuwku, neither answered nor returned our calls. He also did not respond to a text message on his mobile phone asking for comment.
