TRAC has been following the expansion of Islamic State West Africa (ISWA) since 27 September 2021, when ISWA conducted a potentially joint operation with ISGS against towns in Sokoto State, Nigeria. Since then, ISWA fighters have been steadily expanding into Nigerian states outside Yobe and Borno, such as Niger, Adamawa and Zamfara.
This past week, TRAC observed ISWA's expansion into two new states: Taraba on 19 April and Kogi on 23 April. The Taraba State attack targeted a bar selling "burukutu" (moonshine) outside the Iwarre cattle market, a bombing for which the locals blamed on "bandits" and their leaders who were said to have invited Boko Haram and ISWA into the state. The Kogi State attack took place in the village of Ogaminana, Adavi LGA, where militants entered from multiple entry points and sporadically sprayed bullets before exchanging fire with local police and killing five officers and burning the police station. It is of note that this latest attack in Kogi State is not far from the capital Abuja, merely 173 km, appearing to hint at a strategy of choking off the capital from multiple directions.
On 26 April 2022, rumors circulated that ISWA had at least 20 ISWA suicide bombers ready to be deployed in Damboa, Gaidam, Maiduguri and Bama to ramp up suicide attacks in Nigeria. It is worth noting that sources also reported that the potential ISWA suicide bombers were instructed not refrain from fasting during Ramadan to prepare for their missions that would be rewarded in Jannah (heaven). Suicide bombers have been in abundance thus far in 2022; the total number through April 2022 equals the total number bombings in 2021 alone.
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