Troops intensified offensives against terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, separatist agitators, economic saboteurs, and other criminal elements, disrupting their supply chains, made several arrests, recovered assorted weapons and ammunition, and neutralised Abu Salim Al-Barnawi, a senior terrorist commander and propaganda chief, in the past week.

The military described Al-Barnawi’s death on 12 July 2026, when troops countered a Boko Haram/ISWAP attack at Kukawa Local Government in Borno State, as a significant blow to the insurgents’ leadership structure and information network.

The terrorist group acknowledged his death through the publication of an obituary. Abu Salim al-Barnawi had led cross-border terrorist raids into Cameroon before being reassigned to the group’s media wing, where he was responsible for photographing and filming terrorist attacks and producing propaganda.

The Director Defence Media Operations (DMO), Maj.-Gen. Michael Onoja, who made this known while giving an update on troops’ operations across the various theatres between July 17 and July 23, 2026, said the Nigerian Army Aviation conducted air strikes on a group of ISWAP/JAS terrorists sighted at Yaganari, Bama Local Government Area of Borno State and neutralised scores of terrorists.

Onoja said in the North West geopolitical zone, troops of Operation Fansan Yamma sustained operations against terrorist and their collaborators in Kaduna and Zamfara States. He said a terrorist collaborator, Abubakar Tanimu, was arrested at a cattle market in Sabuwa in Dogon Dawa, Birni Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, for his alleged role in ransom collection, sale of rustled cattle, target identification and harbouring of terrorists.

He said that a significant encounter was recorded in the North Central on 19 July 2026 as troops responded to sporadic firing and an ambush by suspected militia and unidentified locals which led to the death of a herder within Tanjol and Jol communities in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau.

“Troops engaged an estimated one hundred assailants for about two hours, forcing them to withdraw into the highlands. Two herders suspected to be part of the assailants were confirmed killed and two others injured in the encounter. Troops continue to dominate the general area to restore normalcy and deny the assailants further freedom of action,” he said.

The DMO said that personnel of Operation Delta Safe uncovered illegal crude oil refining sites across communities in three local government areas of Rivers State – Ahoada East, Ahoada West and Okrika, containing a total of 27,155 litres of stolen crude oil and petroleum products during the period.

He said troops of Operation Udo Ka on 23 July 2026, raided a forest hideout at Awara Community Waterside along the Omoku-Ogbaku-Ndoni axis in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Rivers State – a raid which was part of strangulation operations in the area that led to the recovery of one Lee-Enfield MK 1 rifle, one G3 rifle, 116 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition and 13 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition. “The hideout is believed to have been used for kidnapping and attacks on security agencies,” Onoja added.