The Islamic Command West Africa Province (ISWAP) has reportedly obtained about 35 commercial drones, signalling a shift in systems in its campaign against Nigerian security forces.
The enchancment comes months after air and drone strikes ordered by Donald Trump, US president, centered insurgent groups in Sokoto voice on Christmas Day 2025.
Even supposing the strikes had been framed as a warning to militant groups operating alongside the Nigeria–Niger border, security analysts relate armed factions non-public since grown extra defiant.
Experiences show that ISWAP is animated beyond ground-primarily based mostly raids in direction of airborne capabilities using First-Person Compare (FPV) commercial drones.
Insurgent groups in Nigeria non-public beforehand old drones for intelligence and surveillance, but most fresh acquisitions point out preparations for offensive operations.
Security experts relate FPV quadcopters might perchance perchance presumably also additionally be modified to carry exiguous explosive payloads and guided to detonate on affect.
They warn that using such drones might perchance perchance presumably enable repeated and sustained attacks on military formations slightly than sporadic raids.
Analysts additionally warning that get entry to to a pair of drones raises the seemingly of coordinated strikes, including using drone swarms.
ISWAP and Boko Haram non-public increasingly deployed drones alongside fighters for the period of assaults on military bases, some of which non-public resulted in significant losses for govt troops.
Observers relate the shift mirrors battlefield trends seen in Ukraine, the achieve low-brand FPV drones non-public altered wrestle dynamics.
Security commentators argue that Nigeria must suddenly give a rob to its counter-drone capabilities to handbook definite of losing operational advantage.
They non-public told higher funding in air defence systems, intelligence gathering and domestically developed drone technologies.
Consultants relate failure to adapt to the emerging drone-enabled insurgency might perchance perchance presumably lengthen insecurity within the north-east and north-west areas.
