Nigerian troops and American forces have killed 175 ISIS fighters in the North-East. The joint operation represents a significant blow to the terrorist group's capacity.
Maj.-Gen. Samaila Uba announced the development on Tuesday in Abuja.
He serves as the Defence Headquarters' Director of Defence Information.
According to him, coordinated air and ground strikes began just days ago. Multiple ISIS checkpoints were destroyed during the operations.
Weapons caches and logistics hubs fell into government hands. Financial networks supporting terrorist activities were also dismantled.
Among those killed were several high-ranking ISIS commanders. Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was one of them.
Uba described al-Minuki as a major global operative for the group. He coordinated terrorist financing, recruitment efforts and logistics across networks.
"Al-Minuki played a central role in ISIS external operations, including coordination of terrorist financing, recruitment, logistics and attack planning targeting civilians," the general said.
His death has crippled the group's command structure significantly. External attack networks have suffered major disruptions.
Three other senior commanders also fell in the operations. Abd-al Wahhab coordinated attacks and propaganda for ISWAP.
Abu Musa al-Mangawi held senior membership in the organization. Abu al-Muthanna al-Muhajir managed media production efforts.
Uba noted that these successes demonstrate Nigeria's Armed Forces commitment. They're tracking and eliminating terrorists across the nation.
He promised the joint operations will continue indefinitely. All terrorist networks threatening security remain targets.
"The Armed Forces of Nigeria, in collaboration with international partners, will continue to hunt down and destroy terrorists wherever they operate," he told reporters.
International partnerships remain crucial to Nigeria's counter-terrorism strategy. The collaboration with AFRICOM is yielding tangible results.
