OPERATION HADIN KAI TROOPS DEFEAT MULTI-FRONT ISWAP ATTACK AT MANDARAGIRAU, INFLICT HEAVY LOSSES
Troops of the Joint Task Force (North East) Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK) in the early hours of Saturday, 28 March 2026 decisively defeated a halfhearted attack by ISWAP terrorists on FOB Mandaragirau in Sector 2. The troops engaged the attackers with well-coordinated ambushes and a deliberate offensive-defensive response that forced them into a disorderly withdrawal while the Air Component of Operation HADIN KAI provided close air support to the troops and ISR feedbacks to enhance targeted kinetic responses.
Subsequent exploitation along the terrorists’ withdrawal routes inflicted further heavy losses. A total of about 38 terrorists were neutralized with 8 bodies recovered so far within the immediate engagement area and human intelligence from locals confirming over 30 additional terrorists’ bodies and weapons strewn along Garin Mallum–Garin Gajere axis into the Timbuktu Triangle.
This was evidenced by blood trails and abandoned equipment. Troops also recovered 7 AK-47 rifles, 8 magazines, 4 RPG bombs and assorted ammunition, while recording no fatalities; one MRAP was hit by RPG fire, with injured personnel promptly stabilized. The scale of enemy losses has triggered widespread jubilation among local communities and highlights the sustained dominance of OPHK troops in denying terrorists freedom of action.
Further exploitation operations are ongoing along the Garin Mallum – Garin Gajere axis at the fringes of the Timbuktu Triangle to recover the littered terrorists’ corpses and consolidate gains.
SANI UBA
Lieutenant Colonel
Media Information Officer
Headquarters Joint Task Force (North East)
Operation HADIN KAI
28 March 2026
