MNJTF, NAF kill ISWAP commanders in Lake Chad region

Buhari consoles Niger President over terrorists’ attack
Troops of Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and Air Task Force at the weekend killed four commanders of Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the Lake Chad Basin.MNJTF Spokesman, Col. Timothy Antigha yesterday stated in Maiduguri that the neytralised commanders include Amir Khalifa Umar in the Tunbum Sabon military operations and that he (Umar) was ISWAPA’s third ranking commander.

“Umar was a high-value target, considering that he was also Chief Judge of ISWAP.In a separate air interdiction conducted in Kwalaram, three other commanders of ISWAP were neutralised,”he said.

Antigha added that more details of battle damage assessment will be released soon, saying several terrorists and their commanders were also killed in an Air Task Force interdiction of ISWAP at the Tumbun Madayi training camp three days ago also yielded expected result.He said before the aerial bombardments of the camp, terrorists were training to launch attacks on troops’ locations in the Lake Chad region.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday commiserated with the government and people of Niger Republic over the terrorists’ attack of January 9, 2020 in Chinagodrar during which several soldiers in a military base were killed.In a statement issued by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, he expressed condolences to President Mahamadou Issoufou, as well as family, friends and colleagues of the victims.

Condemning the terrorists’ attack, he assured his Nigerien counterpart that Nigeria would continue to work closely with his country and other international partners to overcome terrorism and extremism.The President reaffirmed that terrorists and their sponsors deserve no peace, stressing that Nigeria stood in solidarity with its allies to ensure that justice was done.