Scores of people died on Monday in a vicious battle between fighters belonging to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS) on Monday on the island of Kirta Wulgo.
The island is on the Nigerian border, towards Lake Chad.
According to AFP, more than 100 extremists on both sides died in the nine-hour battle. The information was confirmed by a local security source and two local fishermen.
Civilian and security sources said they were concerned that the battle could result in a prolonged internecine conflict between the two extremist groups.
The JAS, more commonly referred to as Boko Haram, launched the attack against ISWAP on the island, which is on the Nigerian side of Lake Chad. It is also an ISWAP stronghold.
Large numbers of heavily armed JAS insurgents in speed boats invaded Kirta Wulgo after dislodging ISWAP security checkpoints en route to the island, sources said.
Security sources and local fishermen said the seizure of Kirta Wulgo would be a huge setback to ISWAP because the island served as a port for importing weapons and supplies into its territory.
“It was a mutually destructive fight that lasted for more than nine hours, from 4pm yesterday [Monday] to early hours of this morning [Tuesday],” said one fisherman in the area.
He could not give a figure for casualties, but his account was backed by two other fishermen in the region. And a local security source confirmed the clashes to AFP.
According to the security source, the JAS mobilised its fighters from camps in Gegime and Kwatar Mota on the Niger side of the lake and Kaiga-Kindjiria on the Chadian side.
“They gathered at Tumbun Ali island in the Nigerian side of the lake and dislodged six ISWAP checkpoints before taking over Kirta Wulgo,” the security source told AFP.
“It was a deadly fight. We are talking of more than 100 dead,” the source said.
Last month Boko Haram suffered heavy casualties in a failed bid to invade Kirta Wulgo where they were beaten back by ISWAP, two sources in the area told AFP.
“This is just the beginning of an internecine battle between the two factions. It’ll be a battle to the finish,” said the local security source.
The JAS might want to assert their presence on the Nigerian side of the lake to get its share of fishing revenues accruing to ISWAP from levies on Nigerian fishermen.
ISWAP split from the JAS in 2016 and rose to become the dominant extremist group, focusing on attacking military bases and ambushing troops.
The two factions had turned staunch enemies since the split and regularly fought for dominance.
Abubakar Shekau, the longtime leader of the JAS, was killed in a clash with ISWAP in May. During the attack, Shekau reportedly detonated his suicide vest, killing himself and others instantly.
His death was a significant setback for the JAS, which has since been weakened.
Almost 6,000 of its members had surrendered to the Nigerian military and more were likely to follow. The former insurgents claimed they were repentant, agreed to go through rehabilitation and wanted to be reintegrated into their communities.
Some community members had questioned whether they would ever be fully rehabilitated and were concerned that the very people who had killed, raped, kidnapped and abducted them would now be living among them.
