Nigerian military airstrikes under Operation Hadin Kai have reportedly inflicted significant casualties on Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters operating around the Lake Chad axis.
Gatekeepers News reports that according to intelligence sources cited by counter-insurgency publication Zagazola Makama, a senior ISWAP commander was severely wounded during an airstrike near Arege on August 5. The commander, identified as Ba Ari Hisbah, reportedly sustained serious injuries to both legs.
The strike was part of ongoing aerial operations targeting terrorist fighters and their logistics networks around the Lake Chad Basin. The operation reportedly disrupted the movement of ISWAP fighters, forcing surviving members to withdraw from the area.
In a separate air operation on Friday, military aircraft reportedly targeted four ISWAP fighters travelling on two motorcycles between Alayaru village and Limberi Market, north of Kukawa.
All four fighters were reportedly killed in the strike, while the two motorcycles were destroyed.
One of those killed was identified as Ba Usman Maidharaib, a 55-year-old ISWAP member described as one of the group’s longest-serving fishing tax collectors in the Lake Chad area.
Maidharaib’s death is considered significant because ISWAP’s illegal taxation of fishing and other economic activities has been an important source of revenue for the group in communities around the Lake Chad islands.
The latest operations form part of sustained military efforts under Operation Hadin Kai to disrupt ISWAP’s command structures, logistics networks and movement across the Lake Chad region.
The Nigerian military is expected to continue aerial interdiction missions alongside ground operations as security forces intensify pressure on terrorist formations in the region.
