The Nigerian Army has uncovered a new terrorist group, Jama’atu Nus’ratul-Islami Wal-Muslimina, believed to be operating in the North-East of the country, and vowed to fight the group with “advanced technologies.”
The army said it had also identified the leader of the new group as Abul-Fadl Iyad Gali, adding that the existence of the group “portends grave danger to Nigeria’s national security.”
The Nigerian Army Headquarters stated this on its official Facebook page.
It said its troops also killed an Islamic State of West Africa Province media chief, Sale Ahmad, also known as Baban Hassan, in a joint operation with the Nigerian Air Force.
According to the army, ISWAP is a faction of Boko Haram, directly affiliated to the Islamic State and has attacked military troops and civilians in recent times.
The statement read in part, “The new leader of Jama’atu Nus’ratul-Islami Wal Muslimina, Abdul-Fadl Lyad Gali, has been identified. The group is a new terrorist group which Ansaru is affiliated to. In the same vein, the identification of the leader of the group would enable the army to target the group effectively using advanced technologies in its arsenal. This is as the existence of group portends grave danger to Nigeria’s national security.
“Reports available reveal that one Sale Ahmad Sale, the leader of Al-Barnawi media group, a faction of Boko Haram, was killed by a joint operation conducted by the army and the air force. The killing of the media leader is indicative of efforts by the army to eliminate key members of the sect. It is worthy to note that the sect is directly affiliated to the Islamic State and has carried out several attacks against troops and civilians in the past.”
Meanwhile, the air force said on Sunday that the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, visited the North-East on Saturday.
The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, said the air chief’s visit was to assess the progress of the Operation Green Sweep, an air attack mission to bomb the Boko Haram terrorists’ locations on the fringes of Lake Chad, Alagarno and Sambisa forests in the state.
