Military Air Strikes Wound ISWAP commander, Kill Four Terrorists in Lake Chad

The Nigerian military said airstrikes under Operation HADIN KAI have inflicted casualties on Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters in the Lake Chad axis.
Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication, that the operations severely wounded a senior ISWAP commander and killed four other fighters, including one of the group’s long-serving fishing tax collectors.
According to field assessments, Ba Ari Hisbah, identified as a prominent head of ISWAP’s police wing in the Lake Chad area, sustained severe injuries to both legs after an airstrike near Arege on August 5.
The strike was part of ongoing aerial operations targeting terrorist fighters and their logistics networks around the Lake Chad basin.
The sources said the operation disrupted the movement and activities of the fighters, forcing surviving members to withdraw from the area.
Another air operation on Friday between Alayaru village and Limberi Market, north of Kukawa, reportedly killed Ba Usman Maidhar­aib, a 55-year-old ISWAP member described as one of the group’s oldest fishing tax collectors in the Lake Chad area.
Maidhar­aib was reportedly travelling with three other fighters on two motorcycles when they came under attack.
The intelligence report said all four fighters were killed and the two motorcycles destroyed in the operation.
The publication noted that the killing of Maidhar­aib is considered significant because of the role of ISWAP’s fishing tax collection network in generating revenue for the group in the Lake Chad region.
ISWAP has for years imposed illegal taxes, levies and other forms of extortion on fishing and other economic activities in communities around the Lake Chad islands.
The sources said the destruction of the revenue collector and disruption of the group’s movement routes could further affect its ability to generate funds and sustain operations.
The military sources said the airstrikes were conducted after intelligence surveillance identified the movements of the fighters in the targeted areas.
They added that Operation HADIN KAI would continue aerial interdiction missions in coordination with ground troops to restrict the movement of terrorists 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 land and maritime routes.