The Air Component of Operation Hadarin Daji has eliminated wanted terror kingpins Halilu Buzu in Zamfara and Alhaji Ganai and Yellow Kano, in Kaduna State.
According to military sources, the terror kingpins and fighters were killed in two separate airstrikes following credible intelligence.
Halilu Buzu was killed on 21 October, 2022 during airstrikes targeted at their logistics base in Maradun local government area of Zamfara State.
The senior officer said the airstrike was authorised after credible intelligence had revealed that a prominent terrorist Halilu Buzu of Sububu in Maradun LGA of Zamfara State had scheduled an early-morning meeting with some of his foot soldiers in the area.
The intelligence had also revealed the location and exact position of his logistic base where he and his cohorts usually store their ammunitions, vehicles and other ill-gotten loots.
“Consequently, NAF aircraft were scrambled to simultaneously strike the location of the meeting and the logistics base.
“A huge fireball was observed after the strike on the logistics base, an indication that the location might have contained some inflammable substance”.
The source said the battle damage assessment revealed the meeting location and the logistic base to be destroyed.
He said feedback recently received “has now revealed that Halilu Buzu was indeed eliminated in the airstrikes alongside several other terrorist kingpins and their foot soldiers including Ceri, Dan’musulmi, Danbarkeji, Guguwa, Dan Sha Bakwai, Marshall and Hana”.
He said, “Halilu Buzu’s elimination comes as a relieve to locals residing in Sububu, Anka (Bayan Daji) and Bayan Ruwa axis in Zamfara State in view of his knack for terrorizing and torturing his kidnapped victims. Already his absence has reduced the frequency of kidnappings, cattle rustling and other terrorist activities in the area.”
He said similar air strikes were conducted on 14 November 2022 at a location of a notorious terror kingpin Alhaji Ganai’s enclave at Kidandan Forest in Giwa local government area of Kaduna State.
He said the airstrike became necessary after intelligence had monitored, tracked, and established trend of activities of Alhaji Ganai and his foot soldiers within the location.
After the airstrikes, some terrorists on motorcycles were trailed to a location and subsequently attacked.
“The aftermath of the strike revealed that structures within the location including Alhaji Ganai’s house and motorcycles were destroyed and many terrorists including Yellow Kano, an associate of terrorist leader Musa Balejo and seven other notorious terrorists were neutralized after the strikes,” he said.
