ISWAP commanders clash, several fighters feared dead

Some Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, fighters in the Timbuktu Triangle, have reportedly been killed after rival commanders turned their weapons on each other over a disagreement on a planned attack.
A counter-terrorism expert, Zagazola Makama disclosed this in a post on X.

Zagazola said the clash occurred after a heated dispute between senior field commanders over the conduct of an operation that had been scheduled for the previous night.

He disclosed that one of the commanders, identified simply as Abu Ali, reportedly refused to allow fighters under his control to participate in the planned attack.

Ali’s decision was said to have angered another senior commander, who accused him of deliberately frustrating the operation and questioned his loyalty to the group.

According to Zagazola, the dispute was not an isolated disagreement but the culmination of weeks of rising tension among commanders over operational decisions, dwindling resources and the management of logistics inside the enclave.

It was gathered that the refusal to approve the planned attack merely exposed deeper grievances that had been building within the organisation, with rival commanders increasingly competing for influence, manpower and control of supplies.

The Timbuktu Triangle has for years remained one of ISWAP’s principal operational bases, serving as a sanctuary for commanders, training camps and logistics hubs from where attacks are coordinated across parts of the Lake Chad Basin.