Troops of Joint Task Force North West, Operation FANSAN YAMMA, neutralised several terrorists and intercepted a courier transporting 180 explosive devices to terrorist elements in operations carried out across Zamfara State on Thursday.
According to a statement issued Saturday by the Theatre Command’s Media Information Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Aliyu Danja, troops of Sector 2 engaged terrorists in a firefight near Garin Kaso in Birnin Magaji Local Government Area while conducting an offensive clearance operation.
Two terrorists were confirmed killed in the initial contact, and troops recovered two rifles, two magazines, nine rounds of ammunition and two motorcycles, the statement said.
As the operation continued, a second group of terrorists attempted to ambush the troops from concealed positions but were repelled, with the military inflicting further casualties and forcing the survivors to flee.
The statement said the exact number of casualties from the second encounter had not been confirmed, but residents in the area reported that fleeing terrorists evacuated wounded fighters and the bodies of those killed.
In a separate operation the same day, troops conducting a routine vehicle check intercepted a suspected arms and explosives courier identified as 57-year-old Sani Umar. A search of his vehicle turned up 180 units of 20mm Super Power explosives allegedly being moved from Gusau Local Government Area in Zamfara to terrorist elements in Jibia Local Government Area, Katsina State.
The suspect, his vehicle and the recovered explosives have been taken into custody for further investigation, the military said.
The Theatre Command described the operations as evidence of its “sustained offensive posture” against terrorist networks in the North West, targeting both their fighting strength and the logistics chains supplying them with weapons and explosives.
It added that it remained committed to denying terrorists and other criminal groups “freedom of action” across the region.
