Twenty-one suspected Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters have been reportedly neutralised in Borno State in a joint air operation by the Nigerian Military under Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK) and the United States Africa Command, AFRICOM.
The airstrike was carried out on May 30 at a terrorist enclave in Arege, Kukawa Local Government Area following intelligence reports that the location was being used by insurgents.
Security analyst and counter-insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, quoting military sources, said the operation was carried out following intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, which confirmed presence of ISWAP members in the area.
The strike was on a camp which the sources said the terrorists used to plan and co-ordinate attacks across the Lake Chad region.
The operation reportedly killed 21 insurgents and severely disrupted the group’s activities in the area.
Military sources said the mission is part of ongoing security cooperation between Nigeria and the United States to dismantle terrorist networks, destroy insurgent hideouts and limit their operational capacity in the North-East.
The operation was intelligence-driven and carefully executed to achieve maximum impact against the targeted terrorists, they described.
The sources also said the successful strike underscores the increasing cooperation between Nigerian security forces and international partners in the war against terrorism.
They were hopeful that the operation would further degrade insurgent activities around the Lake Chad Basin, where terrorist groups have continued efforts to regroup and launch attacks on vulnerable communities.
