Military Airstrikes Wound ISWAP Commander, Kill Four Fighters in Lake Chad
Adedokun Waliyu
2 min read
The Nigerian military has intensified air operations against Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters in the Lake Chad region, with recent strikes reportedly killing four terrorists and seriously wounding a senior commander.
A senior ISWAP commander identified as Ba Ari Hisbah, who is reportedly a prominent head of the group’s police wing in the Lake Chad area, sustained severe injuries to both legs during an airstrike near Arege.
The operation was part of ongoing aerial missions targeting terrorist fighters and their logistics networks across the Lake Chad basin.
The airstrikes reportedly disrupted the movement and activities of ISWAP fighters, forcing some surviving members to withdraw from the affected areas.
In another operation, four ISWAP fighters were reportedly killed after coming under attack while travelling on two motorcycles between Alayaru village and Limberi Market, north of Kukawa.
One of those killed was identified as Ba Usman Maidharaib, a 55-year-old ISWAP member who was reportedly one of the group’s longest-serving fishing tax collectors in the Lake Chad area. The two motorcycles used by the fighters were also destroyed.
The killing of the tax collector is considered significant because ISWAP has relied heavily on illegal taxation, levies and extortion of fishing and other economic activities in communities around the Lake Chad islands as a source of revenue.
Security sources said the loss of the revenue collector, together with the disruption of the group’s movement routes, could weaken ISWAP’s ability to generate funds and sustain its operations.
The military said the airstrikes were carried out after intelligence surveillance detected the movement of the fighters in the targeted locations.
Operation HADIN KAI is expected to continue aerial interdiction missions in coordination with ground forces, with the aim of restricting terrorist movements and disrupting their logistics, command and control structures.
The Lake Chad region remains a major theatre of counter-terrorism operations, as Nigerian security forces continue to put pressure on ISWAP fighters and their support networks across land and maritime routes.
