Army kills four ISWAP terrorists, rescues passengers in Yobe
By Njadvara Musa, Damaturu
Nigerian Army troops of Sector 2, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), have killed four Islamic State West Africa Province ISWAP) terrorists in Yobe state.
The troops on February 16, 2024 also rescued two female passengers and their children in Buni/Yadi, 54 kilometres south of Damaturu.
Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama, a Counter-Insurgency Expert, in the Lake Chad region that the terrorists were neutralized in Lamisuri village of Gujba local council.
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The sources said report was received at about 10am on Friday, indicating terrorists riding on a tricycle and motorcycles have attacked some commuters and abducted some passengers near the Yobe State College of Agriculture along Damaturu-Buni/Yadi road.
According to Makama, a military patrol team; was immediately dispatched to go after the terrorists in the exact direction of their escape route to rescue the victims.
He said the team first caught up with one of the hijacked vehicles, a green Volkswagen golf car with registration number BBU 353 HD.
A military source in Maiduguri, also stated that two female passengers and some children, were however, abandoned during the hot pursuit by the patrol team of soldiers.
The patrol team took the victims along with the abandoned vehicle to safety before continuing with the trailing of remaining terrorists for possible rescue and interception of victims and vehicles
Makama noted that the pursuit of terrorists yielded positive results when they caught up with them near Lamisuri village, where firefight ensued.
During the encounter, the team killed four terrorists and recovered a tricycle with some stolen food items while some of the terrorists were believed to have escaped from the scene with gunshot wounds.
The remaining two hijacked vehicles were however not found at the scene of the encounter but tracks of moving vehicles were observed heading towards Meleri community near Goniri town.
The team followed up again on the track until they arrived at Meleri village where they were reliably informed that they sighted two other vehicles, a golf and a Honda car believed to have escaped with their passengers from the scene of the troops’ earlier encounter with terrorists at Lamisuri.
It was also gathered that one of the vehicles headed towards Buni Yadi while the other went towards Damaturu through Katarko village.
The military sources said it was intensifying efforts to track the fleeing terrorists and rescue the remaining victims.
