NIGERIA – Over 80 terrorists were on Wednesday killed by Nigerian army in the Malam Fatori axis of Borno State, in coordinated operation involving the air force and ground troops.

The insurgents, members of the ISIS-affiliated terrorist group ISWAP, advanced in large numbers on foot and deployed armed drones in a complex attempt to overrun a military position, according to an operational report by the military.

But troops operating under the Joint Task Force successfully repelled a coordinated five-pronged assault on the 68 Battalion base in Sector 3.

“Troops engaged the terrorists with superior firepower and tactical maneuver, effectively neutralizing over 80 of the attackers and forcing the rest to retreat,” the report said.

Air support was subsequently deployed to target fleeing insurgents, with precision strikes carried out on withdrawal routes and suspected points, further degrading their fighting capacity.

Military sources told Anadolu that troops had prior intelligence about the attack, enabling them to prepare a combined offensive and defensive response.

The sources added that the operation was one of the most successful recent offensives against insurgents, coming days after a series of suicide bombings targeted crowded civilian locations in Maiduguri just as residents were breaking their Ramadan fast.

Local reports also said troops recovered notebooks from the slain terrorists showing the group’s planning and organization. The documents listed fighters mobilized for attacks, their roles, assigned weapons and allocated ammunition.

“The recovered documents are being examined to provide further information on the group’s logistical arrangements,” a source in the military told Anadolu.

Mallam Fatori, a town located near Nigeria’s border with Niger, remains a strategic hotspot in the ongoing counterinsurgency campaign due to its proximity to cross-border supply routes and insurgent enclaves.