By Joy Odor Reportcircle News
A carefully planned wave of terrorist assaults across Nigeria’s North East collapsed under intense firepower in the early hours of Thursday as troops of Operation HADIN KAI repelled simultaneous attacks in Adamawa and Borno States, then pursued fleeing fighters with lethal precision in follow-up air strikes that left scores neutralised.
Military sources confirmed that the attempted offensives designed to overwhelm frontline positions and revive insurgent momentum instead ended in heavy losses for the attackers and another blow to their shrinking operational space.
The first flashpoint erupted before dawn on January 16, 2026, when terrorists moved to overrun a patrol base at Sabon Gari in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State, under Sector 4 of Operation HADIN KAI.
The attackers hoped to exploit darkness and speed.
They met alert, battle-ready troops.
Soldiers on duty immediately engaged, calling in reinforcements from Gulak and the Battalion Quick Reaction Force.
The coordinated response shattered the assault.
Within minutes, the terrorists were forced into retreat, abandoning their advance without inflicting casualties on troops or damaging equipment.
After the firefight, the area was systematically cleared and swept for improvised explosive devices and booby traps, a standard insurgent tactic ensuring the safety of troops and nearby civilians.
Barely hours later, the battle shifted deeper into Borno State, where terrorists launched a large-scale, multi-directional attack on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Azir.
The offensive marked one of the boldest attempts in recent weeks to breach a fortified military position.
The attackers briefly tested part of the defensive perimeter but were met with sustained, overwhelming fire from ground troops, reinforced by the Air Component of Operation HADIN KAI and other Nigerian Army aerial platforms.
What followed was a fierce firefight lasting over an hour.
Despite rocket-propelled grenade fire that damaged troop-carrying vehicles and partially gutted the FOB’s CCTV control room, soldiers held their ground, maintaining operational control until the attackers were decisively overwhelmed and forced to withdraw.
As the terrorists fled, they left behind a trail of weapons and ammunition, including a 60mm mortar tube, mortar bombs, locally fabricated explosives, heavy machine-gun rounds and hundreds of rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, evidence of the scale and intent of the failed assault.
But the battle did not end at the gates of the FOB.
Persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets immediately locked onto the retreating fighters, mapping their escape routes in real time.
Guided by this intelligence, Nigerian Air Force platforms launched precision strikes on identified withdrawal corridors.
The result was devastating.
Military exploitation of the strike zones confirmed that additional scores of terrorists were neutralised, dealing a severe blow to the group’s fighting strength, logistics and morale.
Security analysts say the rapid transition from defence to pursuit reflects growing operational maturity within Operation HADIN KAI, combining ground resilience with air dominance to deny terrorists any chance of regrouping.
Despite material damage during the engagement, military authorities stressed that troop morale remains high and operational momentum intact.
The sacrifices of personnel, they said, underscore the resolve to protect lives, dismantle terrorist networks and permanently deny insurgents freedom of action across the North East.
Operations, according to the Joint Task Force, are ongoing.
The message from the battlefield is unambiguous: coordinated attacks may still be attempted, but escape increasingly is no longer an option.
