Kanyi Okeke
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has released a video showing an ISWAP child insurgent executing two captured Nigerian soldiers.
In the video, the child who is a member of the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP), the breakaway Boko Haram faction, was shown executing the soldiers captured in the North Eastern part of the country with an AK-47 rifle.
ISWAP also showed an IED attack which was thought to have happened in Mallam Fatori in Borno State though the exact date cannot be ascertained.
The video titled “Makers of Epic Battles” also covered other attacks from ISWAP’s spring campaign in Borno and Yobe states in 2021.
Tomasz Rolbiecki, a researcher on Islamic State’s attacks worldwide, described the footage as “awful.”
“There are no words to describe how awful it is,” Rolbiecki posted on Twitter.
“In general, the video is mainly covering the attacks from ISWAP’s spring campaign in northern Borno and Yobe, although there are also clips from southeastern and southwestern parts of Borno state.
“Most of the footage had been published in photo reports long before this video was released.
ISWAP confirms the militants are using an Armoured Personel Carried (APC) (seems like a Mowag Piranha variant) for the first time in a long time, if not ever.
News of them using APCs and MRAPs have been circulating for a while now, but we have not seen a confirmation until now.
The attack on Gajiram is shown next on the video. It is difficult to say which one is it since there were several in the last year, and the footage was not released previously in any form.
Later in the video, ISWAP shows an IED attack that must have happened in Mallam Fatori. A video shot by one of the soldiers attacked by that IED is used by the militants to show the aftermath. That is a technique sometimes used by Daesh.
Finally, a clip from Geidam, in Yobe State, is shown. This was the attack from 23 April, in which ISWAP briefly established control over the town.
Watch the video below, viewers discretion is advised.
UPDATE: Video removed. Needs to be blurred or censored.
