An IS-aligned militant group claimed on Monday that it had killed a Nigerian brigadier general leading operations in the tense Lake Chad region.
IS West Africa Province announced on the Amaq channel that its fighters ambushed a military convoy on Saturday in northern Nigeria.
The group released two images allegedly showing Brigadier General M. Uba before and after his capture by the militants.
If verified, his death would mark the highest-ranking military loss since 2021 in Nigeria’s long-running conflict with militant groups.
General Uba, who commanded the army’s 25th Brigade in Damboa, disappeared on Friday after an ambush near Wajirko in Borno State.
The Nigerian army rejected early reports of his capture as false, saying he had returned to base after an attack that killed two soldiers and two allied militia fighters.
A Nigerian intelligence source later told AFP that Uba had been seized with 16 soldiers and that officials feared the worst outcome.
The source said ISWAP kept Uba’s phone active briefly, allowing the military to trace its location before contact was lost again.
A rescue mission deployed to the coordinates reportedly found no sign of the missing officer or the captured soldiers.
The Nigerian army has not responded to AFP’s latest request for comment on the incident or the fate of the troops.
ISWAP, which broke away from Boko Haram in 2016, has intensified attacks on military positions across northeastern Nigeria.
The group continues to raid bases, plant explosive devices and stage ambushes against convoys moving through remote terrain.
A brigadier general was killed in a similar assault four years ago, while a lieutenant colonel died in an October ambush in Bama.
Sixteen years of militant violence in the region have left more than 40,000 people dead and displaced about two million residents.