* Nigerian army to establish 'super camps' in northeast
* Soldiers leaving some towns they protected previously
* New strategy affecting access by aid workers to some areas
By Paul Carsten
ABUJA/MAIDUGURI, Reuters, Sept 16 (Reuters) - When Islamic
State gunmen stormed the northeast Nigerian town of Magumeri on
the night of August 21, they had free rein.
Nigerian soldiers had left the town earlier that month under
a new strategy of withdrawing to "super camps" that can be more
easily defended against insurgents the army has been struggling
to contain for a decade.
Unchallenged, the Islamist militants torched a clinic in
Magumeri, ransacked government buildings and looted shops before
returning to another town they had raided that night called
Gubio, residents said.
The new military strategy announced by President Muhammadu
Buhari in July to concentrate soldiers in big bases is designed
to give troops a secure platform from which they can respond
quickly to threats in the region and raid militant camps.
People familiar with the military's thinking and security
officials, however, say the new tactic for fighting Islamic
State's West Africa branch and Boko Haram is mainly an attempt
to stem casualties.
The military did not respond to requests for more details
about its strategy or the impact it will have on the region.
"We strongly believe the days of BH (Boko Haram) moving
freely and passing in between static defensive locations are
over," Major General Olusegun Adeniyi, who commands the
anti-insurgency operation, told reporters last month.
Boko Haram launched an insurgency in 2009 to overthrow the
government and establish an Islamic caliphate. The group, whose
unofficial name means "Western education is forbidden", held
territory the size of Belgium in 2014 but a multinational
offensive recaptured much of it the following year.
The group split in 2016 and the faction that has been the
greater threat ever since won the recognition of Islamic State.
The decade of war has killed more than 30,000 civilians and
spawned what the United Nations calls one of the world's worst
humanitarian crises, which foreign nations are trying to contain
with billions of dollars of aid.
But the crisis shows no sign of abating.
'IT'S A MESS'
The army's withdrawal into large bases has coincided with a
string of insurgent raids on newly unprotected towns and has
left the militants free to set up checkpoints on roads as they
roam more freely across the countryside, according to three
briefing notes from an international aid and development
organisation, two security officials and residents.
That has left thousands of civilians without access to aid,
according to the briefing notes seen by Reuters.
Soldiers are no longer protecting some key roads, cutting
off access for humanitarians workers as more of the region falls
under the sway of the insurgents, aid and security sources said.
"It's a mess, militarily, and a disaster for humanitarian
actors," one foreign security official said.
The population of towns being abandoned by the military is a
combined 223,000 people, according to one of the aid agency
briefing notes.
The military departures so far have cut off more than
100,000 people from aid and if more soldiers go, as many as
121,000 other civilians could flee their towns, one aid agency
briefing note said.
"The impact will be one of continued skirmishes - soldiers
under constant strain to deal with the insurgency where Islamic
State and Boko Haram dictate the momentum," said Jasmine
Opperman, a terrorism expert based in South Africa.
It's not yet clear how many "super camps" the army plans to
set up, where they will be nor how many soldiers each will hold.
'HERE TO PROTECT YOU'
The new strategy follows a series of setbacks for the army
which has failed to keep a tight grip on territory it has clawed
back since 2015. Last year, insurgents repeatedly overran
smaller bases and sent soldiers and tens of thousands of people
fleeing from larger towns.
Security experts put the military death toll since June 2018
at anywhere from hundreds of soldiers to in excess of 1,000.
The military has not released casualty figures but denies
that many soldiers have been killed.
One security adviser at an international aid organisation
said a major goal of the new large bases was damage control,
rather than going on the offensive.
"It is to consolidate all of the strength in one place to
prevent them being overrun every week," the adviser said.
He said the areas vacated were being filled by insurgents
and that would make it harder for the military to re-enter,
leaving civilians vulnerable.
Those concerns were echoed by the governor of Borno - the
birthplace of Boko Haram and the state worst hit by the
insurgency. Governor Babagana Umara Zulum told reporters last
month that recent attacks were the result of a "serious vacuum"
following the withdrawal of soldiers.
Islamic State is also using its newfound freedom to woo
locals. Drained by the decade-long conflict, some are open to
moving into areas controlled by the insurgents where life can be
more stable, residents said.
Before hitting Magumeri last month, the militants had passed
through the town of Gubio, some 40 km (25 miles) to the north.
There, an Islamic State fighter led evening prayers followed
by a sermon, according to six residents.
"We are here to protect you, not to harm any one of you,"
the IS fighter told residents. "Those with uniforms are your
enemies, and we are here to deal with them and their supporters.
You should feel free."
Rather than flee to a government-controlled city such as
Borno state's capital Maiduguri, many Gubio residents stayed.