The Nigerian military says airstrikes carried out under Operation HADIN KAI have dealt a significant blow to fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the Lake Chad axis.
Intelligence sources cited by Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication, disclosed that the aerial operations left a senior ISWAP commander severely wounded while four other fighters were killed.
According to the report, Ba Ari Hisbah, described as a key figure heading ISWAP’s police wing in the Lake Chad region, sustained serious injuries to both legs following an airstrike near Arege on August 5.
The operation formed part of ongoing aerial offensives targeting insurgent positions and logistics networks across the Lake Chad basin.
Sources said the strikes disrupted the movement of the fighters, forcing surviving members to retreat from the area.
In a separate operation conducted on Friday between Alayaru village and Limberi Market, north of Kukawa, another ISWAP operative, Ba Usman Maidharaib, was killed.
Maidharaib, 55, was identified as one of the group’s long-serving fishing tax collectors in the Lake Chad region. He was reportedly travelling with three other fighters on two motorcycles when they came under attack.
The report noted that all four fighters were killed in the strike, while the motorcycles used for movement were destroyed.
The elimination of Maidharaib is considered a major setback to ISWAP, given his role in the group’s revenue generation through illegal taxation of fishing activities in the Lake Chad area.
For years, ISWAP has imposed levies and extorted communities engaged in fishing and other economic activities around the Lake Chad islands.
Security sources said the strikes were executed after surveillance identified the movement of the fighters in the affected locations.
They added that Operation HADIN KAI would sustain coordinated aerial and ground operations aimed at restricting insurgent mobility and weakening their logistics, command and control structures.
The Lake Chad region remains a critical front in Nigeria’s counter-terrorism efforts, with security forces intensifying pressure on ISWAP fighters and their support networks across both land and waterways.