{"id":3355,"date":"2019-01-26T19:48:12","date_gmt":"2019-01-26T19:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/nigeria\/?p=3355"},"modified":"2019-01-26T19:48:12","modified_gmt":"2019-01-26T19:48:12","slug":"nigerias-military-struggles-with-islamic-state-part-2-systemic-issues-hamper-the-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nigerias-military-struggles-with-islamic-state-part-2-systemic-issues-hamper-the-fight","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria\u2019s military struggles with Islamic State: Part 2 \u2013 Systemic issues hamper the fight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the second part of a two-part analysis, Robert Postings takes an in-depth look at reasons behind the Nigerian military\u2019s apparent problems in dealing with the increasingly violent Islamic State West Africa insurgent group. He focuses exclusively on ISWA, the ISIS-approved Boko Haram faction led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi since the group split in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>ystemic issues within the Nigerian military have contributed to preventing it from effectively combating Islamic State West Africa militants.<\/p>\n<p>The military\u2019s successes in recapturing territory from Boko Haram in 2015 came in spite of its issues, and over time these fundamental problems have come to the fore again. Soldiers have complained about low pay, long deployments and a lack of equipment as key issues.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, ISWA has employed a new and apparently successful strategy of attacking hard military targets, while at the same time reaching out to civilians.<\/p>\n<h3>Insufficient and poor quality equipment<\/h3>\n<p>As exemplified by the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thedefensepost.com\/2018\/11\/19\/nigeria-boko-haram-iswap-military-bases-metele-gajiram-mainok\/\">fighting at Metele in November<\/a>, one of the most common complaints from Nigerian soldiers in the northeast is the quality of equipment and weapons they are expected to use. Ranging from boots to tanks, Nigerian soldiers often lack what they need, and what equipment they do have is regularly faulty.<\/p>\n<p>One security source told Reuters in September that soldiers \u201care running out of weapons, ammo and basic equipment.\u201d A corporal in a special forces unit complained they had not\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecable.ng\/investigation-soldiers-fighting-boko-haram-beg-food-sleep-classrooms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">received<\/a>\u00a0basic equipment such as uniforms, boots or body armor. Another soldier\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/nigeria-sees-pre-election-resurgence-of-jihadist-attacks\/a-46489205\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a>\u00a0Deutsche Welle that they have \u201cno helmet, no flak jacket, not enough ammunition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are also problems with more sophisticated equipment. In July, an officer\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.premiumtimesng.com\/news\/headlines\/278792-boko-haram-army-chief-buratai-spits-fire-warns-commanders-against-fleeing-from-terrorists.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a>\u00a0the Premium Times that armored vehicles and tanks procured by the previous administration had already \u201cbroken down\u201d and were in \u201ca state of disrepair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other soldiers have complained of tanks only\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pulse.ng\/news\/local\/soldiers-cry-out-for-help-call-for-probe-after-metele-attack-id9135914.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">firing<\/a>\u00a0twice, armored personnel carriers\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/2018\/12\/true-story-of-metele-attacks-by-surviving-soldier\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">running<\/a>\u00a0for 10 to 15 minutes before overheating, machine guns\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldpoliticsreview.com\/articles\/26632\/year-of-the-debacle-how-nigeria-lost-its-way-in-the-war-against-boko-haram\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">jamming<\/a>, and mortar shells failing to detonate.<\/p>\n<p>What good equipment soldiers have is often captured by ISWA as they overrun bases. Recent propaganda videos and pictures released by ISIS central appear to show tanks and armored vehicles being seized on several occasions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the second part of a two-part analysis, Robert Postings takes an in-depth look at reasons behind the Nigerian military\u2019s apparent problems in dealing with the increasingly violent Islamic State West Africa insurgent group. He focuses exclusively on ISWA, the ISIS-approved Boko Haram faction led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi since the group split in 2016. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[231,258,293],"class_list":["post-3355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-military","tag-nigerian-army","tag-soldiers"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nigeria\u2019s military struggles with Islamic State: Part 2 \u2013 Systemic issues hamper the fight - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nigerias-military-struggles-with-islamic-state-part-2-systemic-issues-hamper-the-fight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nigeria\u2019s military struggles with Islamic State: Part 2 \u2013 Systemic issues hamper the fight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the second part of a two-part analysis, Robert Postings takes an in-depth look at reasons behind the Nigerian military\u2019s apparent problems in dealing with the increasingly violent Islamic State West Africa insurgent group. He focuses exclusively on ISWA, the ISIS-approved Boko Haram faction led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi since the group split in 2016. [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nigerias-military-struggles-with-islamic-state-part-2-systemic-issues-hamper-the-fight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-26T19:48:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/upload\/sites\/3\/2017\/11\/Boko-Haram.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"303\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"166\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"alico\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"alico\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nigerias-military-struggles-with-islamic-state-part-2-systemic-issues-hamper-the-fight#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nigerias-military-struggles-with-islamic-state-part-2-systemic-issues-hamper-the-fight\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"alico\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7\"},\"headline\":\"Nigeria\u2019s military struggles with Islamic State: Part 2 \u2013 Systemic issues hamper the fight\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-26T19:48:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nigerias-military-struggles-with-islamic-state-part-2-systemic-issues-hamper-the-fight\"},\"wordCount\":372,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nigerias-military-struggles-with-islamic-state-part-2-systemic-issues-hamper-the-fight#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/upload\/sites\/3\/2017\/11\/Boko-Haram.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Military\",\"Nigerian Army\",\"Soldiers\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nigerias-military-struggles-with-islamic-state-part-2-systemic-issues-hamper-the-fight#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nigerias-military-struggles-with-islamic-state-part-2-systemic-issues-hamper-the-fight\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/nigerias-military-struggles-with-islamic-state-part-2-systemic-issues-hamper-the-fight\",\"name\":\"Nigeria\u2019s military struggles with Islamic State: Part 2 \u2013 Systemic issues hamper the fight - 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