…neutralize over 70 combatants and 3 top commanders
By Nkechi Eze
The Nigerian military announced on Sunday that Troops from Operation HADIN KAI launched a three prong clearance operation in the North East, targeting the notorious Timbuktu Triangle terrorist stronghold. The operation, which began on January 16, 2025 till date, aims to dismantle the terrorist presence in the region.
A statement made available to newsmen by the Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba states that; over 70 terrorists combatants including 3 notable terrorist commanders were neutralized. According to Gen. Buba, the troops recorded several encounters with terrorists during the course of the clearance operations which resulted in the victory recorded. He further stated that the terrorist commanders neutralized include and is not limited to the following : TALHA (Terrorist Special Forces Commander), Mallam UMAR (Terrorist Operations commander) and ABU YAZEED (Terrorist Brigade Commander).
Gen. Buba further hinted that during the operations, the terrorist group utilized various tactics, including improvised explosive devices (IEDs), person-borne IEDs, and vehicle-borne IEDs, in an attempt to repel the advancing troops. However, the troops, who were familiar with these tactics, successfully thwarted the attempts, including neutralizing the use of amateur drones by the terrorist group.
Additionally, he said “overall, during the course of the operations, troops sadly recorded 22 killed in action casualties with several others wounded in action. On this account, the media is enjoined to resist publishing names of troop casualties to allow the formal notification of their next of kin.
“On the whole, the operation is ongoing and the public will be updated on further developments in due course”.
