By SUMAILA OGBAJE

Fierce battle between Abubakar Shekau-led Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has broken out in the terrorists’ camps leading to the killing of several of their fighters.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Yerima, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

Yerima said the incident which took place in a border area between Nigeria and the Niger Republic was revealed by Al Thabat, an al-Qaida affiliated media outfit.

He said that Al Thabat, in a statement, said Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad, commonly known as Boko Haram, killed ISWAP insurgents in the village of Sunawa on the Nigeria-Niger border.

According to him, the battle occurred after ISWAP abducted dozens of women linked to Boko Haram.

“The group subsequently attacked the ISWAP base and rescued the women.

“It will be recalled that ISWAP broke off from the Shekau led Boko Haram in 2016, and since then, a bitter war of attrition and violent confrontations between both factions have been recurrent.

“This incident has once again exposed the disorganised and disoriented nature of these criminals,” he said.

Yerima said that the Nigerian Army in recent operations continued to dismantle all logistics and operational bases of the insurgents along the Lake Chad Basin axis and Sambisa forest area.

He said the troops had in one of its operations in Sambisa forest discovered and destroyed Abubakar Shekau’ farm and rescued abducted victims.

“The Nigerian Army wishes to use this medium to reassure Nigerians of the determination of troops to clear the remnants terrorists out of the Nigerian territory,” he said. (NAN)

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