Nigerian military airstrikes have reportedly wounded a senior Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) commander and killed four fighters in separate operations around the Lake Chad Basin.
The operations on Wednesday, August 5, and Friday, August 7, 2026, followed intelligence-led surveillance of suspected terrorist movements, according to intelligence sources cited by Zagazola Makama.
The August 5 strike near Arege reportedly left Ba Ari Hisbah, identified as a senior ISWAP Hisbah commander, with severe injuries to both legs.
On August 7, an airstrike between Alayaru village and Limberi Market, north of Kukawa, reportedly killed four fighters traveling on two motorcycles. Both motorcycles were destroyed.
One of the dead was identified as 55-year-old Ba Usman Maidharaib, described as a veteran ISWAP fishing-tax collector in the Lake Chad area.
Maidharaib’s reported death could affect the group’s revenue network, which relies partly on illegal levies imposed on fishing and other economic activities around the Lake Chad islands.
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The strikes came the same day the military announced a wanted list of 38 suspected ISWAP members and commanders following intelligence recovered during recent operations in northern Borno.
The military said forensic analysis of recovered technical equipment, including a camcorder, helped identify ISWAP personnel and locations around the Mangari-Metele-Dogon Chukun axis in Abadam and Kukawa local government areas.
Among those declared wanted were Abu Musa Al-Mangawi Baa Shuwa, identified as ISWAP’s Wali in the Lake Chad Basin, and his deputy, Muhammad Jidda, also known as “The One-Handed Man.”
The military announced rewards of ₦50 million for information leading to the arrest of Ibn Muhammad, an Amniyya commander, and ₦10 million for information leading to Jidda’s capture.
The developments highlight an intensifying intelligence-driven campaign against ISWAP’s leadership, fighters, movement routes and revenue channels.
Operation HADIN KAI continues to combine aerial and ground operations to disrupt terrorist logistics and command structures across Nigeria’s North-East.
The Lake Chad Basin remains a major theatre of the counter-insurgency campaign, with ISWAP maintaining networks across remote communities and waterways.