Nigeria Intensifies Military Operations Against Jihadists Amid Rising Violence**

Nigerian military reports significant jihadist deaths following air strikes aimed at securing the northeastern border, while calls for urgent intervention grow amid ongoing violence.**

Nigeria's military has announced the elimination of 35 jihadists in a series of air strikes conducted near the northeastern border with Cameroon. This offensive was executed across four strategic locations, targeting jihadists who were preparing to launch assaults on ground forces. With Nigeria embroiled in conflicts involving jihadist groups for over a decade, the situation has escalated due to rampant criminal activities, sectarian violence, and widespread kidnappings for ransom.

On Saturday, a collective of distinguished Nigerians—including former government officials, business leaders, and activists—issued a statement expressing alarm over the "war-time levels of slaughter" in certain regions, despite the absence of an official state of war. They referenced a report from Amnesty International stating that over 10,217 fatalities have occurred since President Bola Tinubu's administration began two years ago. To address these crises, the group advocated for creating a Presidential Task Force empowered to effectively tackle myriad disputes, especially the revival of Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) in the northeast.

Recent military reports indicate that approximately 600 militants have been neutralized within the past eight months in the region, although independent verification of these figures remains lacking. The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) affirmed its commitment to supporting ground operations that dismantle jihadist strongholds in the northeastern part of the country. The United Nations estimates the ongoing conflict has resulted in more than 35,000 deaths and displaced around two million individuals.

In response to escalating unrest, the US State Department recently finalized a deal to provide Nigeria with $346 million in weaponry to bolster its counter-insurgency efforts. The Institute for Security Studies highlighted a troubling trend, noting at least 15 jihadist incursions along Nigeria's borders with Cameroon and Niger this year, emphasizing the use of modified commercial drones by the jihadists to strike military installations, complicating the military's ability to deploy reinforcements.

Further military actions extended to air strikes targeting "bandits," a term commonly used in Nigeria to describe various criminal gangs. In a notable operation in northwestern Katsina state, military forces rescued 76 kidnapping victims, including women and children. However, the rescue efforts were marred by tragedy, as a child reportedly lost their life during the operation.

This intervention followed an alarming attack on the village of Unguwan Mantau in Katsina, where armed assailants assaulted worshippers in a mosque and fired upon nearby residences, resulting in the deaths of at least 50 individuals and the abduction of around 60 others. Katsina, along with adjacent Zamfara state, remains a hotspot for banditry, witnessing the highest levels of killings and displacement amid the ongoing turmoil.