Omanghana
Precision air operations conducted by the Air Component of Operation HADIN KAI have reportedly wounded a senior Islamic State West Africa Province commander and killed four other fighters in the Lake Chad region.
The separate aerial operations targeted members of the terrorist organization and its revenue network operating around communities in northern Borno State.
According to intelligence reports attributed to counter-insurgency expert Zagazola Makama, senior ISWAP figure Ba Ari Hisbah sustained severe injuries during an airstrike near Arege on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.
Hisbah reportedly serves as the head of ISWAP’s Police Wing in the Lake Chad area. The strike was said to have inflicted serious injuries on both of his legs, dealing a significant setback to the group’s internal enforcement structure.
A second operation was conducted on Friday, August 7, targeting Ba Usman Maidharai, a 55-year-old insurgent described as one of ISWAP’s oldest and most influential fishing-tax collectors.
Maidharai was reportedly travelling on a motorcycle with three other fighters between Alayaru village and Limberi Market, north of Kukawa, when their position was struck by military aircraft.
All four fighters were reportedly killed in the operation, while the assets they were transporting were destroyed.
Military sources consider Maidharai’s reported death a significant blow to ISWAP’s financial operations in the Lake Chad Basin. The group has relied heavily on illegal taxes and levies imposed on fishing, farming and commercial activities in communities under its influence.
Revenue collected from traders and fishing settlements around the Lake Chad islands is believed to support the organization’s logistics, weapons acquisition, storage facilities and command operations.
The latest airstrikes form part of continuing military efforts to weaken ISWAP’s leadership, restrict its movement and dismantle the financial networks sustaining its activities across the region.
Source: Omanghana
