Troops Kill ISWAP Commander, Foot Soldiers In Borno

A commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Abou Sufyan, and other fighters have been killed by troops of the Nigerian Military in Kusuma and Sigir towns in Marte Local Government Area of Borno State.

It was gathered that the commander and the foot soldiers were killed on Sunday during a series of airstrikes conducted by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) component of Operation Hadin Kai on ISWAP camps in the two towns.

A military source told PRNigeria that the terrorists were killed after Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions showed the ISWAP fighters preparing to attack troops in the area.

The source stated that a weapon-manufacturing facility, fuel dump, armoury base and an infrastructure filled with vehicles and motorcycles were destroyed by the ATF scrambled Super Tucano aircraft.

He added that some terrorists who tried to escape from the attacks were also intercepted and neutralised in a follow-up operation by the troops

According to the source, some of the surviving and wounded terrorists who escape are hiding under thick trees around the Arinna Sorro and Arinna Ciki areas of the state.

He, however, said the week-long sustained air offensives have impacted jihadists’ operational command and thwarted the group’s plans to carry out major attacks on the military formations in the axis.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Defence, Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi (Rtd), disclosed that the Nigerian military has seriously curtailed the activities of Boko Haram and ISWAP in the North-East.

Magashi stated that the success recorded was in adherence to the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari to the nation’s service chiefs during a recent meeting.

Ezenwoko’s Blog reports that the minister made this disclosure at the 2021 Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference in Abuja on Monday.

He said that the activities of the insurgents have been reduced to the barest minimum, adding that peace is gradually being restored to all the troubled areas in the country.

Magashi expressed confidence in the ability of the military to wipe out the terrorists, urging the troops to continue to step their game in the fight against insurgency.