Military kills terror lord ‘Shanono’, scores during fight between Boko Haram, ISWAP

Aggressive bombardments carried out by two Nigerian Air Force, NAF, fighter jets have killed scores of feuding terrorists in the North East.

Among those killed was a well-known terrorist leader, operating in Kaduna State, Alhaji Shanono.

Terrorists in Borno, according to military source, were eliminated during a ‘bloody’ infighting for relevance and supremacy between terrorists of the slain Abubakar Shekau’s faction and their Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP, rivals.

Though PRNigeria could not confirm the casualties suffered by the insurgents, it learnt that the NAF airstrikes were conducted at Gazuwa, about 1.2 kilometers to Gargash.

The military source, who pleaded for anonymity, explained that the state of confusion and disorder among the two terrorists’ factions presented an opportunity for a surprise strike by their military attack jets.

He said: “It should be noted that though the map coordinates led the pilots to the exact site of the infighting, the location also had an ISWAP flag hoisted on the structure and 3 solar panels on the rooftop.

“Intelligence received and corroborated by local sources revealed the strike was a success as the terrorists did not anticipate it with several eliminated and others injured”.

Meanwhile, PRNigeria gathered that following receipt of intelligence on 9 August 2022, that Shanono, had scheduled a meeting with his foot soldiers at Ukambo, a village about 131 km from Kaduna, the Air Component of Operation Whirl Punch dispatched aircraft for interdiction mission at the location.

“Overhead the location, terrorists were sighted under clusters of trees at the foot of Ukambo high ground and after ensuring the absence of civilian settlements within the location, the crew received the authorization to strike.

“Feedback from local sources disclosed that over 30 rifles and 20 motorbikes were destroyed while about 18 terrorists, including Alhaji Shanono, were neutralized while others sustained various degrees of injuries.

“Sources also revealed that not less than 26 kidnapped victims earlier held by the terrorists were released as a result of the airstrike,” a NAF source told PRNigeria.