Nigerian troops have successfully repelled coordinated overnight attacks by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters in Borno State, killing at least 19 insurgents, including a senior commander and a terrorist cameraman, according to military authorities.
The attempted infiltration occurred in the early hours of Thursday near Monguno town and Bitta community, both located in the volatile Lake Chad region, long plagued by extremist insurgencies.
Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar, the Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai — the joint military task force operating in Nigeria’s northeast — confirmed the thwarted assaults in a media briefing.
He said troops engaged the militants in fierce gun battles, particularly in Bitta, where the insurgents were met with overwhelming force.
Among those neutralized was a high-ranking Boko Haram commander identified as Ibn Khalid, as well as a propaganda cameraman who was allegedly documenting the attack for recruitment or propaganda purposes.
Seventeen other militants were killed across multiple engagements in Sambisa Forest, stretching from Madagali Local Government Area in Adamawa State to Kaga in Borno.
Military sources said an unspecified number of fighters fled the scene with gunshot wounds, as traces of blood were observed along the militants’ withdrawal routes. The pursuit of the wounded fighters is ongoing.
Troops also recovered a cache of arms and equipment, including two AK-47 magazines, 7.62mm special ammunition, a PKT belt-fed machine gun, a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), and a camcorder, believed to have been used to film the failed operation for insurgent media propaganda.
Monguno, a strategic town at the northern edge of Borno, serves as the headquarters of Sector 3 of Operation Hadin Kai and a vital base for the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF).
Though civilian authority has largely returned to the town, other nearby communities along the Lake Chad basin remain deserted due to ongoing insecurity and lack of infrastructure for resettlement.
The Lake Chad region, which borders Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger, has been a key operational zone for Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters. In recent months, Nigerian forces have stepped up counter-insurgency efforts, backed by regional allies under the MNJTF umbrella.
While the Nigerian Army continues to report successful operations, independent verification remains difficult due to limited media access in conflict zones.
However, the recent gains are being cautiously welcomed by security analysts, who stress the need for a sustained civil-military approach to consolidate military victories and facilitate long-term stability and reconstruction.
