Nigerian Army personnel under Operation Hadin Kai have reportedly killed a top commander of the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād, otherwise known as Boko Haram, Tahir Baga during their recent raid on Sambisa Forest in Borno State.
According to Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency expert and security analyst in the Lake Chad region, the terrorist top commander was killed on Monday when the army cleared their enclaves of Shababul Umma, Garin Panel Beater and Lagara Anguwan Gwaigwai at the heart of the forest.
Zagazola added that the troops and the terrorists clashed in heavy gun battles which resulted in the death of several top Boko Haram commanders including Baga.
Several others escaped with gunshot wounds, according to the counter-terrorism expert.
“Third Baga was a close ally to Abubakar Shekau. He was among the first sets who founded the Boko Haram movement in Maiduguri before moving into Sambisa Forest with the likes of Mamman Nur, Khalid Albarnawi, Abubakar Shekau, Kaka Ali, Mustapha Chad, Abu Maryam and Abu Krimima.
“Tahir Baga was a revered Imam who was respected among the Sect group. He had on several bases truncated the efforts of many fighters and their families to surrender and also pushed many under-aged girls to go on suicide bombing after convincing them that they would be granted paradise as an everlasting reward.
“The killing of Tahir Baga is a major blow to the Boko Haram terrorist groups.”
In a similar report, the eldest son of Mamman Nur, founder of the Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP), Mahmud Mamman Nur Albarnawy, on Sunday surrendered to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
Makama said a military source confirmed the news to him.