Nigerian Army troops under Operation Hadin Kai have recorded another success in their intensified campaign against insurgency, with the neutralisation of five Boko Haram fighters during a clearance operation in the Ladin Buttu axis of the Sambisa Forest.
The operation, which took place during a recent patrol mission, forms part of the ongoing recalibrated offensive aimed at rooting out remnants of terrorist groups from their last strongholds. Ladin Buttu, located deep within Sambisa Forest, has long served as a strategic transit and logistics hub for insurgents due to its access to water and concealment advantages.
Military sources told Zagazola Makama that the troops encountered the terrorists during a routine clearance operation and engaged them in a fierce gun duel. At the end of the firefight, five insurgents were confirmed killed, while several others fled the scene with varying degrees of gunshot wounds.
In addition to neutralising the fighters, troops recovered three AK-47 rifles, five fully loaded magazines, and other military ordnance believed to have been stockpiled for future attacks.
This latest success reinforces the Nigerian military’s renewed momentum and aggressive posture in dismantling terrorist networks operating in the northeast. It also comes in the wake of strategic directives issued by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who recently visited the theatre and ordered intensified ground raids and expanded aerial reconnaissance missions.
Under this directive, troops have extended their operations into deep forest enclaves, including the Sambisa axis, Timbuktu Triangle, and fringes of Lake Chad, with the goal of degrading the operational capabilities of Boko Haram and its rival faction, ISWAP.
The Nigerian military remains committed to sustaining the pressure on terrorist elements until total peace is restored in the affected regions.
