Foreign terrorist trainers, doctors active in north-east Nigeria, military reveals

An operation by Nigerian troops has uncovered evidence that foreign fighters, including a Palestinian trainer and a Moroccan medical doctor, are actively supporting Islamist militants in the country’s north-east.

The discoveries were made after soldiers killed an Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) cameraman during a failed weekend assault in Borno State.

A camcorder recovered from the dead fighter contained highly sensitive footage showing four senior commanders alongside three foreign facilitators, military officials said.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by Captain Muhammed Goni, the spokesperson for the joint task force Operation Hadin Kai, preliminary forensic analysis identified two of the foreign nationals. One is a Palestinian man known as Abu Ishaq, believed to be the group’s head trainer, while the other is a Moroccan doctor named Abu Thaiba. A third Arab operative has yet to be identified.

Captain Goni said the presence of these foreign nationals reinforces assessments that local militant networks are continuing to benefit from external expertise and transnational terrorist links.

The night-time clash occurred at around 22:20 local time on Saturday, when militants attempted to infiltrate a military position in the Cross Kauwa area of Kukawa Local Government Area.

The military said the insurgents were attempting to exploit the cover of darkness to loot cholera medical supplies.

The raid appears to confirm recent intelligence reports of a severe cholera outbreak within the militants’ hidden enclaves, amid claims that the group has even executed some of its own infected members to prevent the disease from spreading.

Alert troops engaged the attackers with overwhelming firepower, forcing them to retreat. Two Nigerian soldiers sustained gunshot wounds during the firefight and were evacuated by air for medical treatment, where they remain in a stable condition.

In addition to the video camera, troops recovered rounds of ammunition, uniforms, and combat equipment. Satellite imagery and local intelligence later confirmed that the militants suffered heavy casualties, with several bodies evacuated by the retreating fighters.