The Nigerien army has announced the death of a senior Boko Haram commander during a military operation in the Lake Chad basin an area bordering Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon.
In a statement released Thursday, the military confirmed that the militant, identified as Bakura (real name Ibrahim Mahamadu), was killed in a precision airstrike on an island in the Diffa region last week.
The army described him as a “feared leader” and noted the operation was a “surgical strike” conducted by the Nigerien Air Force.
According to the report, Bakura was targeted on the morning of August 15, when a fighter jet carried out three successive strikes on his hideout in Shilawa. He was approximately 40 years old and originally from Nigeria.
Bakura had been a member of Boko Haram for over 13 years and became a prominent leader following the death of Abubakar Shekau in May 2021, amid internal clashes within jihadist factions.
He led a splinter group loyal to Shekau and refused to align with the rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), instead relocating with his fighters to the islands on Niger’s side of Lake Chad.
Boko Haram’s insurgency began in 2009, aiming to establish an Islamic caliphate in northeastern Nigeria. The conflict has resulted in over 40,000 deaths and displaced more than two million people.
The violence has also spilled into neighboring countries, with Niger first experiencing attacks in the Bosso region in 2015.
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