Lake Chad Basin insurgents raise the stakes with weaponised drones
The 24 December 2024 attack on Nigeria’s Forward Operating Base in Wajiroko in the country’s north-east, marked the first known instance of a terrorist group in the region using drones in direct combat.
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) deployed four armed drones carrying locally made grenades in a coordinated assault, injuring at least five soldiers. Two more such attacks have happened in Damaturu, Yobe State, and Abadam on Lake Chad.
The use of armed drones in battlefield operations is a dangerous new phase in ISWAP’s insurgency that challenges existing counter-terrorism strategies in the region.
While state armed forces in Africa have for years used drones, including in Ethiopia and Mali, observers have long warned about the danger posed by non-state actors acquiring and adapting the technology. The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) warned in 2023 that ISWAP was close to using drones for attacks.