The Defence Headquarters has reported that 22 troops and more than 70 insurgency perpetrators were killed during an ongoing military operation in Borno State’s Timbuktu Triangle, a known terrorist stronghold.
According to the DHQ, the operation began on January 16, 2025, with forces from Operation Hadin Kai demolishing terrorist hideout in the region.
Maj Gen. Edward Buba, the Director of Defence Media Operations, said in a statement on Sunday that the operation had led to many run-ins with militants.
Buba added that among those slain were Three senior insurgent commanders, the commander of the Terrorist Special Forces; Mallam Umar, the commander of operations Abu Yazeed the commander of the brigade.
The Timbuktu Triangle is a notorious terrorist stronghold and enclave in the country’s northeast, and troops from Operation Hadin Kai carried out a clearance operation there, he added. Beginning on 16 January 2025. The three-pronged effort to eliminate the terrorist presence in the triangle has been ongoing ever since.
During the course of the clearance operations, troops recorded many confrontations with terrorists, leading to the neutralization of 70 enemy combatants, including three prominent terrorist commanders. The following terrorist leaders were eliminated, among others: ABU YAZEED (Terrorist Brigade Commander), Mallam UMAR (Terrorist Operations Commander), and TALHA (Terrorist Special Forces Commander).
According to Buba, the terrorists employed various strategies throughout the operations, such as drones, suicide bombers, and improvised explosive devices.
He said that forces showed tactical superiority by effectively repelling these efforts.
“In the meantime, the terrorists used Vehicle Bourne Improvised Explosive Devices (suicide bombers in explosive vehicles), Person Bourne Improvised Explosive Devices (suicide bombers), and Improvised Explosive Devices (improvised explosive devices) to repel the troops’ advance and attacks,” Buba said.
“Troops, already familiar with the terrorist tactics, thwarted several terrorist attempts, including shooting down the amateur drones used by the terrorist.”
Buba, while acknowledging the death of 22 soldiers, urged for the media’s caution in broadcasting the identities of dead personnel to allow formal notification of their families.
“Overall, troops tragically recorded 22 killed-in-action casualties during the course of the operations, with several others wounded in action,” he added. Because of this, the media is prohibited from releasing the identities of troop victims in order to provide their next of kin official notice.
