Hussaini Kafi in Kano
Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have killed a notorious Boko Haram/ISWAP commander, Malam Jidda, and scores of his fighters during coordinated ground and air offensives in Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State.
The terrorists’ kingpin, who was said to be the Ameer of Ngorgore and Malumti villages, met his end during a joint military operation launched on June 9 in Ngazalgana area, according to a statement issued on Monday by Captain Reuben Kovangiya, Acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Headquarters Theatre Command, Operation Hadin Kai.
Kovangiya said the troops, backed by airstrikes from the Air Component, engaged the terrorists in a fierce battle, using superior firepower to overpower them. “Malam Jidda was neutralised on the spot while several other terrorists fled with gunshot wounds,” the statement noted.
In a separate operation around the Timbuktu Triangle, troops on a snap ambush engaged another group of insurgents, neutralising several of them.
Continued clearance operations in the Mallamfatori axis of Abadam LGA also led to the discovery of more terrorists’ corpses and the recovery of arms and equipment.
Items recovered from the battlefields include AK-47 rifles, RPG tubes, hand grenades, magazines, ammunition, motorcycles, handheld radios, and other combat materials.
“These renewed offensives underscore the effectiveness of the counter-insurgency strategy adopted by Operation Hadin Kai, with firm commitment towards defeating the Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgency and restoring peace in the North-East,” the statement added.
