US strikes in Nigeria this week targeted Islamic State militants from the Sahel who were in the country to work with the Lakurawa jihadist group and “bandit” gangs, a spokesman for the Nigerian president told AFP Saturday.
Washington and Abuja previously said they targeted IS-linked militants, but without providing details on which of Nigeria’s myriad armed groups were attacked.
“ISIS found their way through the Sahel to go and assist the Lakurawa and the bandits with supplies and with training,” Daniel Bwala, a spokesman for President Bola Tinubu, told AFP.
“ISIS, Lakurawa and bandits were targeted,” he said.
