Defence Headquarters confirms killing of 4 Nigerian soldiers in Katsina

The Nigerian military has confirmed the killing of four soldiers attached to Operation Hadarin Daji.

This followed terrorists’ attack on a military camp in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State on Sunday.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, who made this confirmation on Tuesday, said the military recorded four casualties contrary to five, which was earlier reported.

He noted that there were two ambushes and that five soldiers in the process of defending territorial integrity of Nigeria sustained minor injuries in the second operation.

He said, “On 12 May 2024, troops of Operation HADARIN DAJI encountered 2 separate ambushes namely at Kuran Mota Village as well as along Road Alikere – Yarmalimai Village in Zamfara State.

“Though troops fought fiercely to extricate themselves from the situation. Sadly, troops recorded casualties of 4 soldiers killed in action, while 3 were wounded in action in the first ambush.

“In the second ambush incident 5 soldiers sustained minor injuries of gunshot wounds and the soldiers have been stabilized as they were evacuated to FOB Faskari for medication care.”

According to him, there have never been any operations carried out by the troops, where scores of terrorists were never neutralized, stressing that air components of the operation were reinforced during the ambush.

“During the ambush, troops received support from the air component OP HADARIN DAJI as well as reinforcement from FOB YARMALIMAI.

“The joint effort of both forces dealt a severe blow to the coalition of terrorists that gathered in numerical strength to execute both ambushes.

“Accordingly, several of the terrorists were neutralized as they suffered heavy casualties. Troops have unlocked the change in tactics of these terrorists and made necessary adjustments to maintain tactical superiority on the battlefield,” he added.