A series of military airstrikes conducted by the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) around the Lake Chad region has severely wounded a prominent commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and neutralised four terrorists, including one of the group’s long-serving fishing tax collectors.
Field assessment showed that Ba Ari Hisbah, identified as a prominent head of the ISWAP Police Wing operating in the Lake Chad area, sustained severe injuries to both legs following an airstrike conducted by the Air Component near Arege on Wednesday, August 5.
According to sources cited by counter-insurgency expert Zagazola Makama, the strike was part of sustained aerial interdiction operations targeting terrorist elements and their logistics networks around the Lake Chad Basin.
The sources said the operation disrupted the movement and activities of the terrorists in the area, forcing surviving elements to withdraw from the affected location.
Further intelligence indicated that another air operation conducted on Friday, August 7, between Alayaru village and Limberi Market, north of Kukawa, resulted in the neutralisation of Ba Usman Maidharai, a 55-year-old ISWAP member described as one of the group’s oldest fishing tax collectors in the Lake Chad area.
Maidharai was reportedly travelling with three other terrorists on two motorcycles when they came under attack by the aircraft. All four terrorists were neutralised in the strike, while the two motorcycles were also destroyed.
The elimination of Maidharai was considered significant because of the role played by ISWAP’s fishing tax collection network in sustaining the group’s financial operations around Lake Chad.
ISWAP has for years exploited fishing and other legitimate economic activities in the Lake Chad islands and surrounding communities as sources of revenue through illegal taxation, levies and extortion.
The destruction of the group’s revenue collectors and disruption of its movement routes are expected to further constrain its ability to generate funds and sustain its operations.
Military sources said the latest operations followed intelligence surveillance that identified the movements of terrorist elements within the targeted areas.
They added that Operation Hadin Kai would sustain its air interdiction missions in coordination with ground forces to deny terrorists freedom of movement and disrupt their logistics, command and control structures.
The Lake Chad region remains a major theatre of counter-terrorism operations, with security forces maintaining pressure on ISWAP formations and their support networks across the maritime and land approaches.
The latest strikes come amid intensified efforts by OPHK to degrade terrorist enclaves, disrupt their revenue sources and prevent the regrouping of fleeing fighters following recent military operations in the theatre
