Scores of ISWAP fighters were killed in Nigerian Air Force (NAF) airstrikes on a terrorist enclave in Kangarwa, within the Northern Tumbuns area of Borno, on April 1 at approximately 1205 hours. The operation, conducted by the Air Component of the Joint Task Force Northeast, followed intelligence and surveillance confirming terrorist presence in the settlement. Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, said the precision strikes destroyed logistics hubs, operational shelters, and other key infrastructure used by insurgents. Multiple attack runs effectively degraded the enclave's capabilities, disrupting movement and dismantling command structures linked to ISWAP.
Ejodame described the mission as highly effective, creating conditions for ground troops to advance and conduct clearance operations. The NAF said the strike exemplified improved coordination between air and ground forces in the counter-insurgency campaign. Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, Chief of the Air Staff, reaffirmed the commitment to sustained, intelligence-driven operations against terrorist hideouts. Aneke stressed that continued air interdiction is vital to denying terrorists freedom of movement and eliminating remaining strongholds in the North-East.
Air Marshal Sunday Aneke's emphasis on sustained air strikes suggests the military sees firepower as a substitute for lasting strategy. If destroying enclaves in Borno were enough to end the insurgency, the war would have been won years ago. This latest strike may disrupt ISWAP temporarily, but without governance and security on the ground, territory cleared today can easily be reclaimed tomorrow.
