A joint air operation by the United States (US) and Nigerian forces has reportedly killed three Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) ‘lieutenants’ who served in the inner circle of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the terrorist leader recently killed in a precision strike on a hideout in the Lake Chad Basin.
Al-Minuki’s death was announced last month by US President Donald Trump and immediately confirmed by President Bola Tinubu.
Sources told a counter-insurgency publication, Zagazola Makama, that the lieutenants are Abu Huraira, Ba Yuram and Mallam Haruna.
The publication said their deaths were confirmed by comprehensive battle damage assessments and multiple intelligence confirmations.
The three men were regarded as key figures within the group’s operational, logistical and security structures.
‘Before his death Abu Huraira, was the Fiya of Tumbun Mota and son-in-law to Abbor Mainok, who played a key role in coordinating field operations and maintaining influence over fighters operating within the Tumbun Mota axis’, Zagazola said.
‘While Ba Yuram, was another powerful Amir responsible for logistics, procurement, weapons acquisition, supplies and transportation networks across ISWAP enclaves throughout the Lake Chad Basin. Intelligence sources described him as one of the most important figures sustaining the group’s war machine.
‘Another notable figure was Mallam Haruna, Abbor Mainok’s personal bodyguard and Chief Security Officer (CSO), who managed the security architecture around the slain commander and coordinated his movements between various insurgent enclaves while evading security forces.
‘Among other notable terrorist commanders confirmed killed during the operations are: Abubakar Buduma, the Qa’id of Kirta Wulgo, who sustained severe injuries during an earlier strike near Kirta Wulgo and later succumbed to his wounds’.
Sources told Makama that the deaths of al-Minuki and his three lieutenants have created a major leadership gap within ISWAP’s command structure in the Lake Chad Basin.
Makama said several foreign ISIS-linked drone operators described as Arab nationals who worked with Mainok were also killed.
The air strikes reportedly eliminated operatives linked to ISWAP’s media and propaganda networks.
‘The death of Ba Yuram may prove particularly damaging to the insurgency because of his central role in coordinating procurement routes, movement of supplies, weapons acquisition and distribution of resources among various ISWAP factions operating across the Lake Chad Basin’, Zagazola said.
‘His elimination, combined with the destruction of logistics warehouses, vehicles and supply depots, is expected to significantly disrupt the group’s ability to sustain operations. No wonder they could no longer carry out large attacks’.
