The Personal Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, has confirmed the killing of a commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Abou Sufyan, in Borno State.
Ahmad made the confirmation in a post on his official Facebook page on Tuesday.
He wrote: “ISWAP Commander, Terrorist Abou-Sufyan is confirmed killed by the Nigerian troops
in Lake Chad region”.
Naija News had reported that Sufyan and other fighters were killed by troops of the Nigerian Military in Kusuma and Sigir towns in Marte Local Government Area of Borno State.
It was gathered that the commander and the foot soldiers were killed on Sunday during a series of airstrikes conducted by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) component of Operation Hadin Kai on ISWAP camps along the fringes of Lake Chad.
A military source told PRNigeria that the terrorists were killed after Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions showed the ISWAP fighters preparing to attack troops in the area.
He added that some terrorists who tried to escape from the attacks were also intercepted and neutralised in a follow-up operation by the troops
According to the source, some of the surviving and wounded terrorists who escape are hiding under thick trees around the Arinna Sorro and Arinna Ciki areas of the state.
He, however, said the week-long sustained air offensives have impacted jihadists’ operational command and thwarted the group’s plans to carry out major attacks on the military formations in the axis.
This article was originally published on Naija News