Militants in the Sahel Take Attacks to Next Level With Armed Drone

In the early hours of Tuesday between 1:00 am and 3:00 am, jihadist attackers invaded a military outpost in the village of Wulgo. The activities that followed their entry culminated in the loss of lives and theft from the Cameroonian troops stationed in the location.

With the help of armed drones and rocket-propelled grenades, they bombarded the troops and displaced them within minutes.

AFP intelligence reports that the militants had gained access to the village disguised as herders coming to the weekly market.

Sources said 25 Cameroonian troops were killed in one of the deadliest incidents in recent months.

“The destruction on the base is massive. It is completely burnt along with military vehicles,” said Muhammad Sani Umar, a nearby resident who visited the site of the Wulgo attack.

The Islamic State group claims it is behind the attack.

The military outpost stationed there is part of an anti-jihadist coalition. The armed groups in the region are taking advantage of cheap, recreational and modifiable drones. They turn them into deadly, explosives-filled aerial weapons.

The use of drones by armed groups in Nigeria and the Sahel is not new, especially for surveillance purposes. However, they are being repurposed by jihadists and separatists who equip them for attacks.

Five soldiers at Nigeria’s Wajirko base in the northeast were wounded in a drone attack a few months back. The area is a hot spot for Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram insurgency.

“It’s an available, at-reach technology, and it’s easier and easier to use, and it’s cheaper and cheaper,” Wassim Nasr, researcher at the Soufan Center and journalist at France24, said. “It was only a matter of time before it arrived into the Sahel region and Nigeria.”

Charlie Werb, an analyst with Alert:24, a risk consultancy, said he noticed an upward trend in reports of drone attacks by jihadists in the Sahel since January.

As air dominance begins to shift, military forces in the region are yet to step up their methods and equip soldiers with anti-drone devices.