Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have neutralised more than 6o terrorists in ongoing operation Desert Sanity IV as part of a wider measure to completely defeat the terrorists in the North East region.
The military in a statement issued Sunday said on 16 January 2025, troops dislodged terrorists from their enclaves in Jemyeri, Abulam, Agum and Digamari in the course of the operation.
It added that the troops further stormed ISWAP training camp at Garin Baban Alhassan, destroyed the camp and neutralised 18, including three notorious commanders identified as Talha, the ISWAP women leader, Mallam Umar the RPG trainer and Abu Yazeed the ISWAP Brigade Commander in the Timbuktu Triangle.
On 22 January 2025, at about 14:40hrs, troops of 199 Specail Force battalion, Combat Teams 6 and 8 married up at Gardiri for the final onslaught on the notorious terrorist enclave.
It noted that as precursor operations, troops cleared terrorist camps at Burbur, Lamisuri, Kassachia and Buk destroying all life supporting structures within these strongholds.
It said the terrorists were placed on the backfoot as they were on the run all through seeking to find new hideouts within the Timbuktu Triangle.
It noted: “Due to the pressure on the terrorists and a sign of desperation and last resort, on 24 Jan 25 at about 19:10hrs, the terrorists cowardly rammed into troops at their harbor position with a Vehicle Borne IED at Gardiri base killing a Commanding Officer, 2 officers and some of our very brave men while injuring 20 others.
“Conversely and conservatively too, the troops neutralised more than 60 of the terrorists during the one week long operation.
“Also, 14 AK 47 rifles, 6 RPG tubes, 18 motorcycles and 24 AK 47 magazines were recovered by our gallant warriors.”
It said based on this development, a comprehensive review of the operation is being carried out to enable a re-launch.
It added: “Meanwhile, It is pertinent to set the records straight that there was no terrorist activity at Malam Fatori which led to casualty on own troops as widely circulated in some media outlets by mischief makers.
“The only recorded incident occurred at the Timbuktu Triangle in Damboa LGA of Borno State as narrated earlier. The media report making the rounds is therefore fake, baseless and should be disregarded.’’