The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has clarified that recent comments by the United States on the killing of 199 jihadists in Nigeria and the recovery of ISIS-linked weapons and electronic equipment do not refer to a new military operation.
Rather, the DHQ said the information released by US officials represents the declassification of details from a previously executed joint Nigeria–US counter-terrorism mission conducted in May 2026.
Director of Defence Information, Major General Samaila Uba, said the operation had already been publicly acknowledged by Nigerian authorities, adding that the latest disclosures were based on information that had previously been classified.
