Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have foiled a Boko Haram ambush and killed several insurgents, including two senior commanders, during operations along the Sambisa Forest and Mandara Mountains axis of Borno State.
In a statement on Thursday, the Media Information Officer of the Joint Task Force North East, Lt. Col. Sani Uba, said the encounter occurred on January 22 under Operation Desert Sanity.
He said the insurgents attempted a coordinated ambush using roadside improvised explosive devices and heavy gunfire, but troops of Sector 1 responded with superior firepower, neutralising 10 terrorists. Two senior commanders, identified as Basulhu and Ubaida, were among those killed.
Uba said follow-up exploitation led to the recovery of arms and logistics, including AK-47 rifles, a pump-action rifle, motorcycles, hand grenades, communication radios, magazines, RPG accessories and other IED-related materials.
He added that troops also made contact in the Malkube area, where additional weapons were recovered and two more terrorists were killed, while another unit repelled an attempted infiltration by Boko Haram/ISWAP elements from Cameroon near Galakura.
According to the statement, the operations denied insurgents freedom of movement and further degraded their operational capability.
The military high command commended the troops for their performance and directed them to sustain the offensive across the North East.
The army also acknowledged recent casualties during earlier clearance operations in the Timbuktu Triangle, but said morale remained high and operations would continue to dismantle terrorist strongholds in the region.
Keywords: Operation Hadin Kai, Boko Haram, Sambisa Forest, Mandara Mountains, Borno security operations
