Explosion leaves 8 anti-extremist soldiers dead in Nigeria
KANO : Eight members of an anti-extremist militia assisting the Nigerian military were killed yesterday when their vehicle hit a landmine in northeastern Borno state, sources from the group told AFP.
Members of the militia were returning to the regional capital Maiduguri from the town of Marte in the Lake Chad area, where they had helped to repel an extremist attack on a military base, the two sources said.
'Their vehicle hit the landmine while driving between the towns of Marte and Dikwa around 2pm, killing all eight of them onboard,' Babakura Kolo, an anti-extremist militia leader in the region, told AFP.
In mid-May, fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) attacked a military base in Marte, a town in Borno state, killing four soldiers and seizing weapons before torching the facility.
The victims of yesterday's attack were among a contingent of anti-extremist militia who remained in Marte to help troops guard the town, said Ibrahim Liman, another militia leader.
Liman gave the same toll, saying the bodies of the victims were brought to Maiduguri, 90km away, and 'will be buried tomorrow morning'.
The Nigerian military yesterday confirmed troops had thwarted an extremist attempt to 'infiltrate' the Marte base, resulting in the 'decimation of several fleeing terrorists' with air support.
Two soldiers were killed in the incident, the military said in a statement.
Iswap and rival Boko Haram have escalated attacks on communities in Borno and neighbouring Adamawa and Yobe states in recent months.
They have also have intensified attacks on military bases, overrunning more than a dozen in two months, according to an AFP tally.
The 16-year extremist conflict has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around 2 million from their homes in the northeast, according to the United Nations.
The violence has also spilled into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the extremist groups.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
5 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
3 Colombian soldiers killed in guerilla drone attack
Authorities blame the attack on a FARC dissident group led by Ivan Mordisco, a former mid-level guerilla commander. (EPA Images pic) BOGOTA : Colombian Navy officials said three soldiers were killed and four others were injured Tuesday after a drone loaded with explosives attacked a vessel navigating a river near the country's Pacific coast. Colombia is experiencing its worst wave of violence since the signing of a peace treaty between its government and the now-defunct FARC guerilla group, with deadly drone attacks on the rise. Tuesday's attack occurred while troops were patrolling the Naya River, in a rural area near Colombia's main port on the Pacific Ocean, Navy officials said in a press release. The four injured soldiers were taken by helicopter to the city of Buenaventura for medical care. Authorities blame the attack on a FARC dissident group led by Ivan Mordisco, a former mid-level guerilla commander who refused to sign the 2016 peace agreement. Leftist president Gustavo Petro attempted to negotiate peace with Mordisco, but officials say the guerilla leader abandoned talks in 2024, after a year of negotiations.
Malay Mail
11 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Young women in UK face more strangulation and violent threats, says charity
LONDON, Aug 13 — Britain is seeing more violent threats to kill or harm young women and girls aged 16-25, with incidents of strangulation and suffocation also increasing, leading domestic abuse charity Refuge said today. Refuge, one of the largest specialist domestic abuse organisations in Britain, said 525 young women and girls receiving long-term support from the charity reported experiencing physical violence between April 2024 and March 2025. Around half of them were subjected to strangulation or suffocation - a 9 per cent rise from a year earlier. Nearly half of those reporting psychological abuse - about 615 individuals - said their perpetrator had threatened to harm them, marking a 4 per cent increase. Additionally, 35 per cent said they had been threatened with death. 'Domestic abuse often goes unnoticed, yet these new figures reveal the harrowing reality: many young lives are being devastated by this horrific crime,' said Refuge CEO Gemma Sherrington. 'To actively tackle domestic abuse, there must be a major societal shift towards improved education that shines a light on the many red flags of abuse.' Refuge said many young victims were experiencing coercive control, a pattern of behaviour designed to isolate, manipulate, and intimidate. Survivors quoted in Refuge's report described how abuse often began with subtle controlling behaviours and escalated over time. Such behaviours can often be overlooked by authorities as markers of domestic abuse. Reuters reported today that Britain would reassess a tool widely used by the police and domestic abuse specialist services to gauge the level of risk faced by victims following criticism that, among other issues, it downplays patterns of coercive and controlling behaviour. Refuge has called for domestic abuse education to be more deeply embedded in schools and for the government's upcoming strategy on violence against women and girls to strengthen support for young people. — Reuters
Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Syria vows accountability after video of Sweida hospital killing
Rights activists called for an independent probe after footage showed alleged government forces killing civilians in a hospital. (EPA Images pic) DAMASCUS : Syria's interior ministry on Monday said it would hold accountable those responsible for the apparent killing of an unarmed man at a hospital during violence last month in Druze-majority Sweida province, after a purported video of the incident emerged. 'We condemn and denounce this act in the strongest terms and affirm that the perpetrators will be held accountable and brought to justice… whatever their affiliation,' the ministry said in a statement. A week of bloodshed began on July 13 with clashes between local Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes, but the violence rapidly escalated as it drew in outside forces, eventually killing some 1,600 people, many of them Druze civilians, according to an updated toll by a war monitor. Syrian authorities have said their forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses, Druze factions and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor have accused them of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses against the Druze, including summary executions. Local media outlet Suwayda 24 and the Observatory published the video on Sunday, saying it was from hospital surveillance footage. Forces in military garb are seen shooting dead a man whom Suwayda 24 identified as an engineer volunteering with the hospital team after a brief scuffle, as a group of people dressed as healthcare workers are crouched on the floor. Another man seen in the video told AFP that the incident took place on July 16. The Observatory called it a 'shocking field execution' carried out by 'members of the defence and interior ministries'. Rights activists called for accountability and an independent inquiry after the footage emerged, following other videos that circulated last month that also appeared to show government forces killing civilians. The interior ministry said it appointed an official 'to directly oversee the progress of the investigation in order to ensure the culprits are found and arrested as soon as possible'. Late last month, authorities announced the formation of a committee to investigate the Sweida violence, which should present its findings within three months. Activists have instead called for an independent investigation to probe the violence. Mohammad al-Abdallah, executive director of the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre, said on Sunday that UN investigators 'must enter Sweida immediately' and labelled the medic's killing a war crime. Despite a ceasefire, the situation remains tense in Sweida and access to the province remains difficult. Local residents accuse the government of imposing a blockade, something officials have denied, pointing to the entry of humanitarian convoys.
