By ZAKAA LAZARUS
Troops of the Joint Task Force (North East) Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK) in the early hours of Saturday, 28 March 2026 decisively defeated a halfhearted attack by ISWAP terrorists on FOB Mandaragirau in Sector 2. Borno State.
In a statement issued by the information officer headquarters operation Hadin Kai Lt Col Sani Uba, the troops engaged the attackers with well-coordinated ambushes and a deliberate offensive-defensive response that forced them into a disorderly withdrawal while the Air Component of Operation HADIN KAI provided close air support to the troops and ISR feedbacks to enhance targeted kinetic responses.
The statement further explained that troops exploit along the terrorists’ withdrawal routes inflicted further heavy losses.
Uba disclosed that a total of about 38 terrorists were neutralized with 8 bodies recovered so far within the immediate engagement area and human intelligence from locals confirming over 30 additional terrorists’ bodies and weapons strewn along Garin Mallum–Garin Gajere axis into the Timbuktu Triangle.
He said there was evidenced by blood trails and abandoned equipment. Troops also recovered 7 AK-47 rifles, 8 magazines, 4 RPG bombs and assorted ammunition, while recording no fatalities; one MRAP was hit by RPG fire, with injured personnel promptly stabilized. The scale of enemy losses has triggered widespread jubilation among local communities and highlights the sustained dominance of OPHK troops in denying terrorists freedom of action.
The statement averred that further exploitation operations are ongoing along the Garin Mallum – Garin Gajere axis at the fringes of the Timbuktu Triangle to recover the littered terrorists’ corpses and consolidate gains.
