The Nigerian army says it has lost 22 soldiers in an ongoing military operation in the Timbuktu triangle, a notorious terrorist stronghold in Borno state.

The operation, conducted by the troops of Operation Hadin Kai, started on January 16.

In a statement on Sunday, Edward Buba, the director of defence media operations, said over 70 insurgents were killed in the operation.

Buba added that among the insurgents killed were three high-ranking commanders.

“Troops of Operation HADIN KAI in the northeast of the country conducted a clearance operation to a renowned terrorist stronghold and enclave known as the Timbuktu Triangle,” he said.

“The three-prong operation aimed at dismantling the terrorist presence within the triangle commenced on 16 Jan 25 till date.

“Troops recorded several encounters with terrorists during the course of the clearance operations, which resulted in over 70 terrorist combatants, including three notable terrorist commanders, neutralised. The terrorist commanders neutralised include and are not limited to the following: TALHA (Terrorist Special Forces Commander), Mallam UMAR (Terrorist Operations commander) and ⁠ABU YAZEED (Terrorist Brigade Commander).

“Meanwhile, during the operations, the terrorist deployed Improvised Explosive Devices, Person Bourne Improvised Explosive Devices (suicide bombers) as well as Vehicle Bourne Improvised Explosive Devices (suicide bombers in explosive vehicles) to ward off troops advance and attacks.

“Troops already familiar with the terrorist tactics thwarted several terrorist attempts, including shooting down the amateur drones used by the terrorist.

“Overall, during the course of the operations, troops sadly recorded 22 killed in action casualties with several others wounded in action. On this account, the media is enjoined to resist publishing names of troop casualties to allow the formal notification of their next of kin.”