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Daesh claimed responsibility for five attacks in an area it calls the "State of West Africa" that it said resulted in 118 casualties in the past week, according to a video posted on its account on the messaging website Telegram late on Thursday.
The militant group, which typically uses the "State of West Africa" to refer to Nigeria, made the claim in a video presentation of attacks it says it carried out between Nov. 16 and 22. It did not specify the number of people killed in the attacks, referring only to 118 casualties.
Five security sources told Reuters more than 100 soldiers had been killed in attacks in Nigeria in recent days, one of the highest death tolls since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015. It could raise pressure on him ahead of an election in February since he has claimed victory over the nine-year insurgency.
Armed men killed eight people on Thursday in a late night attack on French drilling company Foraco's water well site in southeastern Niger, Foraco said."Last night at 2 a.m. local time, a group of terrorists attacked the small building where a Foraco team was sleeping and killed seven of them, plus one civil servant," the company said in a statement.Five other employees were wounded, with two in serious condition, it said. The workers were drilling two deep water wells for the water ministry in southeastern Niger's Diffa region.A security source told Reuters that the assailants were believed to belong to Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram, which is active near the border with Nigeria.Boko Haram has been trying since 2009 to establish an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria and has launched repeated attacks into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Thousands of civilians have died in the violence.Marseille-based Foraco is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and says it is the third largest global mineral driller with mining and water projects across 22 countries.
Eight killed in attack on Foraco well site in Niger
The sources said the insurgents attacked a military base in the village of Metele in northeastern Borno state, the epicentre of a revolt by Boko Haram and splinter group Daesh in West Africa.
Daesh, in a statement released on Monday, said it attacked an army base on Sunday in Metele and killed at least 40 Nigerian soldiers. The group said it burned down the base after the attack finished.
A Nigerian presidency spokesman on Thursday said the military would issue a statement and military spokesmen did not respond to requests for comment. The government and military often decline to acknowledge the scale of losses in the northeast.
Nigerian opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar will seek to boost investment in the country's oil sector if he becomes president next year, according to a draft copy of his manifesto.He plans to reconsider the introduction of bidding rounds for marginal fields and oil blocks, privatise government-owned refineries and issue new licences for greenfield investments in crude refineries, the draft said.The country is scheduled to hold a presidential election in February.Muslim body slams school banning headscarves in NigeriaBoko Haram spox killed in NE Nigeria: ArmyNigeria: Over 150,000 displaced people return home
Nigerian opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar seeks to boost oil investments