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| NAF jets strike Sambisa; over 15 killed |
On Sept. 3, 2025, the Nigerian Air Force said its jets struck a newly identified terrorist enclave west of Zuwa, in the Sambisa general area of Borno State. The force said the strikes killed more than 15 terrorists and destroyed key structures.
The NAF’s public relations director, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, issued the statement on Thursday morning in Abuja. He said the mission was carried out by the Air Component under the Joint Task Force North-East of Operation Hadin Kai.
Ejodame said the mission was based on credible intelligence and confirmatory surveillance. He said the strikes targeted hideouts used by fighters and commanders linked to recent attacks around Bitta, in Gwoza Local Government Area.
The statement said the interdiction was “carefully planned and executed.” It said the strikes demolished structures tied to the insurgents and degraded their operational capacity. The NAF said the action supported ground troops operating in the area.
The NAF gave no figures for weapons seized or for injuries among civilians or troops in the statement. The force described the result as “devastating” to the targeted fighters.
Sambisa Forest has long been a base for Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters. The area became a major insurgent enclave after the violence that began in 2009. Regional and international reports say the wider insurgency displaced millions and killed tens of thousands.
The NAF statement placed the action under Operation Hadin Kai, the long-running campaign in the northeast. The statement said air interdiction missions remain a key tool in disrupting militant movement and command nodes.
Local and national news outlets published the NAF statement and similar accounts of the strike. Several outlets carried the NAF’s description of events and the location west of Zuwa.
The NAF did not name the specific group of the killed fighters in the statement. The force described the targets as “terrorists” and said they were responsible for attacks around Bitta.
This strike follows a pattern of recent air operations in the region. In late August, the military reported airstrikes in Borno that it said killed dozens of fighters near the Cameroon border. Those earlier operations were also tied to troop protection and to disrupting planned attacks.
The NAF’s public relations office, led by Air Commodore Ejodame, has issued multiple updates this year about air campaigns in the northeast. The NAF said the latest action underscores its ability to locate and hit newly identified enclaves through intelligence and surveillance.
Security sources and the NAF did not provide immediate confirmation from ground units on captured materials or detainees. The NAF said ground forces and air assets work jointly under the wider Operation Hadin Kai mandate.
No independent verification from local residents or independent monitors was cited in the NAF release. Media reports relayed the NAF statement as the primary source of details on the action and its outcome.
The NAF said each strike that degrades militant capability brings closer the aim of dismantling networks in the northeast. The statement closed by stressing the force’s commitment to protecting lives and property and to supporting ground operations.