The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has announced that Ali Kachala Kawaje, a wanted terrorist leader, has been killed in an air strike in Niger state.

In a statement on Friday, Brig Gen Edward Buba, director of media operations at the DHQ, said Kachala was killed alongside 39 fighters, including one Machika, a terrorist bomb expert.

“During the week in focus, air assets conducted aggressive air flights on confirmed locations active with the movement of terrorist commanders and their foot soldiers. Strikes carried out resulted in over 38 terrorist commanders and their foot soldiers, while 159 of them were arrested,” the statement said.

“Recently, the military conducted two major air strikes on the terrorist enclave. One of the strikes, on Dec 6, neutralized several top terrorist commanders. Namely, one Machika, a top terrorist bomb expert and younger brother of a notorious terrorist (Dogo Gide).

“Other prominent terrorist leaders neutralised include Haro and Dan Muhammadu, both of whom are specialists in kidnapping and assault operations, respectively.

“A renowned terrorist leader responsible for the abduction of the students of Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, Ali Alhaji Alheri, popularly called Kachalla Ali Kawaje, was neutralised in Munya LGA of Niger state along with many of his foot soldiers. The military is fast closing in on others, and they will equally suffer the same fate.

“The armed forces are hunting down prominent terrorist leadership and engaging them wherever they are hiding.”