Abuja (Times Of Ocean)- The Joint Multinational Joint Task Force’s efforts in collaboration with the Air Components of Operation Hadin Kai and the Nigerien Air Force may have continued to yield impressive results as intelligence on the ISWAP terrorist, Ibn Usman, and five other associates have been neutralized.
On Saturday, the air force announced it had killed over 70 Islamic State fighters near the border with Niger Republic in the Lake Chad area.
Nigerian and Niger Republic aircraft were involved in the operation, according to a statement.
ISWAP, a jihadist group active since 2016, has been active in Lake Chad since then.
According to an insider within the military circle, the joint air strikes conducted on April 14, 2022 at Tumbun Rego and a training camp about two kilometres northwest of Tumbun Rego killed five key ISWAP leaders, including one of the most wanted terrorists, Ibn Usman.
Other names include Hani Abdullahi, Abakar Shuwa, Abu Jibrillah, and Abu Ali. Over 70 other ISWAP terrorists were killed or seriously injured in the same air strike.
A source stated, “Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance missions over the suspected locations near Tumbun Rego and another training camp about 2 kilometers away from Tumbun Rego had revealed significant terrorist movements.”.
In the early hours of April 14, an aircraft struck and bombarded the terrorists’ base.
According to locals, the Nigerian Army’s strikes and mop-up operations under Op Lake Sanity were successful. With the capture of most of their enclaves in Sambisa Forest and the current onslaught in the Tumbuns, there appears to be no hiding place for ISWAP and Boko Haram terrorists in the Northeast.
“The increased coordinated and joint air strikes by NAF and Nigerien Air Force jets adds an impressive aspect to the new type of operation being witnessed in the Northeast, which should be commended,” The Guardian reported.
Both ISWAP and its older rival, Boko Haram, have murdered more than 40,000 people in the past decade, and more than two million people remain displaced from their homes due to ongoing violence in Nigeria.
Since Boko Haram’s Abubakar Shekau died in inter-factional fighting last year, ISWAP has mostly taken over from its rival.
After kidnapping nearly 300 schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014, Shekau gained international attention.