63 Bodies Of Boko Haram/ISWAP Terrorists Recovered In Malam Fatori

Troops of Sector 3 Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), backed by the Nigerian Air Force, have inflicted a devastating blow on Boko Haram/ISWAP fighters, recovering no fewer than 63 bodies of the insurgents after they attempted to overrun military positions in Malam Fatori, Abadam Local Government Area of Borno State.

NaijaChoice News gathered from military sources that the terrorists launched the assault in the early hours of Wednesday, advancing on foot from the Duguri axis through the frontage of Bravo Company while deploying armed drones in a desperate bid to breach the 68 Battalion defensive lines.

The attackers were met with fierce resistance from the ground troops, who were immediately reinforced by precision airstrikes from the Air Component. The synergy between the land and air forces fixed the insurgents in place, neutralising them in large numbers before they could make any meaningful gain.

“Following the engagement and subsequent clearance operations, a total of 63 terrorist bodies were recovered within and around the general area of Malam Fatori, indicating the scale of losses inflicted on the insurgents,” a military source told NaijaChoice News.

The source added that the Air Component carried out multiple interdiction missions, delivering accurate strikes on enemy concentrations and withdrawal routes, which forced the surviving fighters to retreat in disarray towards the Arege axis.

Further battlefield assessments and mop-up operations have since raised the confirmed death toll to 75, with credible intelligence confirming the elimination of two top ISWAP commanders — Amir Abu Aisha (aka Nagif) and Amir Abu Ali Chaptar (aka Gunner Sambisa). Their bodies were recovered and identified at the Forward Operating Base.

In a significant development, troops also seized an operational notebook belonging to the insurgents, containing names of fighters, rifles issued, motorcycles signed out, and even records of loans taken by the deceased terrorists — turning what the group treated as “company property” into nothing but bad debt.

A large cache of arms and ammunition, including AK-47 rifles, PKM machine guns, RPG bombs, hand grenades, mortar bombs, IEDs and communication gadgets, was equally recovered from the battlefield.

Only four soldiers sustained minor injuries in the operation and have since been stabilised.

The latest victory in Malam Fatori, a strategic Lake Chad frontline community long targeted by ISWAP, once again demonstrates the growing effectiveness of joint air-ground operations under Operation Hadin Kai in degrading the terrorists’ capacity and restoring normalcy to the North-East.