Air platforms of the Joint Task Force North East, Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK), have neutralised scores of suspected terrorists in multiple intelligence-led precision strikes across Borno State.
The operations, conducted between the night of August 21 and the early hours of August 22, 2026, followed intelligence on the movement and concentration of suspected terrorists at different locations across the theatre.
According to the Acting Military Information Officer, Headquarters Joint Task Force North East, Captain Mohammed Goni, the strikes followed confirmatory Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance missions and were conducted after the requisite operational procedures and authorisations.
Around the Aduwa axis of Monguno Local Government Area, an armed reconnaissance platform detected suspected terrorists before identifying a larger concentration within a settlement.
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Two precision strikes were subsequently conducted, with battle damage assessment indicating that about 16 terrorists were neutralised.
The platform maintained surveillance of the area and later detected another group attempting to regroup away from the initial target. A further precision engagement was conducted against the group, which was assessed to comprise about 10 terrorists.
In a separate operation around Buratai in Biu Local Government Area, another OPHK air platform tracked a group of suspected terrorists gathered at a location before conducting an authorised precision strike.
The engagement was assessed to have neutralised about 10 additional terrorists.
The Joint Task Force said the combined operations demonstrated the growing role of integrated Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance capabilities in detecting terrorist movements and disrupting concentrations before they could develop into threats against troops and vulnerable communities.
It said the strikes had also placed additional pressure on terrorist command structures, logistics and fighting formations by limiting their ability to assemble, regroup or exploit remote locations as operational bases.
OPHK’s kinetic campaign continued alongside non-kinetic measures, including community engagement, strategic communication, counter-messaging, humanitarian coordination and efforts to encourage terrorists and their associates to abandon violence and surrender.
The Joint Task Force urged members of the public to continue providing timely and credible information to security forces, stressing that community cooperation remained important to early threat detection and the protection of lives and property.
