KANO, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigeria’s military said on Thursday it had killed 50 jihadists using drones to carry out multiple attacks on army bases in the volatile northeast.

The authorities in Africa’s most populous country and one of its powerhouses, have been fighting the Boko Haram jihadist group and its Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) splinter for 16 years.

The groups are seeking to establish a caliphate in the northeast.

In the early hours of Thursday, troops aided by fighter jets engaged isurgents who had launched coordinated attacks on bases in the towns of Dikwa, Mafa and Gajibo in Borno state as well as in Katarko in neighbouring Yobe state, a military spokesman said in a statement.

The military did not say which faction was behind the attacks but intelligence sources told AFP that ISWAP militants were responsible.

“The combined ground and air efforts resulted in the neutralisation of over 50 terrorists across all the locations,” Lieutenant Colonel Sani Uba, a military spokesman in the northwest said in the statement.

He said several soldiers were wounded in the fighting, without giving numbers.

“Some vehicles and buildings were also gutted by fire from the terrorists’ armed drones and RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) fire during the battle, especially in Mafa and Dikwa, where a part of the defences were momentarily breached,” he said.

Armed insurgents are increasingly using drones, often commercial models modified to drop bombs or grenades.

A resident in Mafa showed AFP videos and pictures from the area showing the charred carcasses of several trucks and said the militants had set them ablaze during the attack.

Mafa locals said the trucks were mostly laden with cement heading to Chad whose drivers had parked for the night for fear of militant attacks on the highway.

The conflict has killed more than 40,000 and displaced around two million in northeastern Nigeria.

It has spilt over into neighbouring countries, prompting the creation of a regional military coalition to combat the Islamist groups.