Islamic State West Africa claims killing and execution of 29 Nigerian soldiers

ABUJA, May 22 (Reuters) - Islamic State's West Africa branch
claimed responsibility on Wednesday for a raid in Nigeria two
days earlier in which it said 20 soldiers had been killed, and
released a video purporting to show the execution of nine other
Nigerian soldiers.
A security source and a humanitarian worker, both requesting
anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to media, said
insurgents struck the northeastern town of Gubio in Borno state
on Monday evening, in vehicles mounted with heavy machine guns
and on motorbikes.
The insurgents and soldiers exchanged fire for more than an
hour before the army withdrew, said the humanitarian worker, who
counted the corpses of more than 15 soldiers.
A Nigerian military spokesman said he would send a comment
on the Islamic State claim, but at the time of writing had not.
Nigeria has said the insurgency, and its rival Boko Haram,
are on the back foot, as the sides engage in a battle of
propaganda to show who has the upper hand in the decade-long
conflict.
The war has killed more than 30,000 people and displaced
millions more.
The Islamic State branch said in its claim of
responsibility, translated into English and published by SITE
Intelligence, that its fighters had attacked an army barracks
and killed 20 soldiers in Gubio on Monday.
In a separate video also released on Wednesday, Islamic
State West Africa showed the execution of nine Nigerian
soldiers. It was not immediately possible to independently
verify the video.
Before their executions, the soldiers identified themselves
by their military service numbers, units and names. Some said
where and when they had been captured. For others, it was not
immediately clear.
The video also showed Islamic State fighters pledging
allegiance to the group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, along
with artillery, tanks and boats it said it had captured from the
military and attacks on Nigerian bases.
Islamic State West Africa have made several claims of
responsibility for attacks over the past months, which have
often been verified by security sources and other people with
knowledge of their attacks.