THE Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has confirmed the death of a notorious bandit terrorising northern parts of Nigeria, Ali Alheri, also known as Kachalla Kawaje.
The bandits warlord, who masterminded the kidnapping of female students of Federal University Gusau (FUGUS), Zamfara state, and some construction workers earlier this year, was killed alongside over 38 other terrorist commanders in the Niger State airstrikes. on December 11.
A statement by the the DHQ Director, Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, on Friday, December 16, stated that air assets conducted aggressive air flights on confirmed locations active with the movement of terrorist commanders and their foot soldiers during the operation.
According to him, the strikes carried out resulted in the death of over 38 terrorist commanders and their foot soldiers, while 159 of them were arrested.
He also noted that the troop, on December 6, neutralised one Machika, a top terrorist bomb expert and the younger brother of a notorious terrorist (Dogo Gide).
“Other prominent terrorist leaders neutralised include Haro and Dan Muhammadu, both of whom are specialists in kidnapping and assault operations, respectively. A renowned terrorist leader responsible for the abduction of the students of Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, Ali Alhaji Alheri, popularly called Kachalla Ali Kawaje, was neutralised in Munya LGA of Niger State along with many of his foot soldiers.
“The military is fast closing in on others and they will equally suffer the same fate. The armed forces are hunting down prominent terrorist leadership and engaging them wherever they are hiding.”
It could be recalled that The ICIR reported how Kachalla Kawaje was killed in Niger state during the air strike by the Joint task force Operation Hadarin Daji (OPHD).
The ICIR also reported that the NAF air strike had on December 6 hit the camps of Ali Kachalla and Dogo Gide during which several notorious bandits Kingpins were killed.
Some of the kingpins killed by NAF were Dogo Gide’s younger brother and IED producer trained by Ansaru Machika, a top commander in Gide’s group, Haro, and a kidnap and assault specialist, Dan Muhammadu.
The terrorists, alongside several others, were reportedly killed while on an attack mission in Niger state.
The neutralised bandits were known to be hibernating in Kamuku National Park in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna state; Kuyambana Game Reserve in Maru Local government area of Zamfara state and Kainji lake National Park in Mashegu, Magama and Borgu Local Government areas of Niger state.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M