ISWAP Kills Army Colonel, Four Soldiers in Overnight Attack on Military Base in Monguno, Borno

Terrorists have killed a Nigerian Army colonel and four soldiers in an overnight attack on a military base in Monguno, Borno State, in what represents the second killing of a senior military officer within less than a week underscoring the escalating threat posed by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) to Nigeria’s armed forces in the North-East.

The slain officer was identified as Colonel I.A. Mohammed. According to reports, the attack was carried out overnight on the Monguno military base. Philip Brant, a jihadi researcher who monitors violence across Borno State and the wider Lake Chad Basin including the Sahel, attributed the attack to ISWAP a 2016 breakaway faction of Boko Haram in a post on X, and confirmed that four soldiers were killed alongside the Army colonel.

Military authorities had not issued an official statement on the attack as of the time of this report. An enquiry directed to Army spokesperson Appolonia Anele received no response.

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The Monguno attack follows closely on the heels of a devastating ISWAP assault on 9 April in Benisheikh, also in Borno State, in which several officers were killed including Brigadier General Oseni Braimah. ISWAP claimed responsibility for that attack as well as two additional assaults on military formations in Pulka and Warabe around the same period. The terror group claimed in its propaganda statement to have killed three members of the Civilian Joint Task Force and five soldiers, including Braimah though the Nigerian Army confirmed only two officers and two soldiers dead without disclosing the victims’ names or ranks.

The pattern of attacks signals a deliberate and intensifying campaign by ISWAP to target high-ranking military officers and destabilise military formations in Borno State. At least four senior officers are reported to have been killed since the beginning of 2026 alone.

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The military has responded with sustained counter-offensive operations, including aerial assaults on ISWAP positions, aimed at disrupting the group’s activities and destroying its camps. However, the frequency and boldness of recent attacks raises urgent questions about the security of forward operating bases and the safety of personnel deployed in some of the most volatile parts of the North-East theatre.

Colonel I.A. Mohammed’s death is a significant blow to the Nigerian Army and will deepen public anxiety about the military’s ability to hold ground against a resurgent ISWAP in the Lake Chad region.