UPDATE - Nigerian Air Force says it killed 2 top Daesh/ISIS terrorists

ADDS MORE DETAILS, LATER ATTACK ON TERRORISTS, BACKGROUND; REVISES DECK

By Ibrahim Garba Shuaibu

KANO, Nigeria (AA) - The Nigerian Air Force said on Monday that it had killed top members of the terrorist group ISWAP during airstrikes in the northeast.

Edward Gabkwet, an air force spokesperson, said in a statement that ISWAP commanders Ali Kwaya and Bukar Mainoka were neutralized during an operation near Lake Chad. They were members of the group's so-called consultation council.

The group, associated with the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group, is primarily active in the Chad Basin, and fights an extensive insurgency against the states of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.

Gabkwet said: “Our path to victory in the northeast remains on course and we won’t relent until all locations are free of terrorists and insurgents."

**He said the operation came in light of intelligence that some ISWAP leaders and fighters from surrounding areas were headed to a meeting to plan more attacks.

**Nigerian Air Force fighter aircraft sent to the location of the terrorists’ meeting at Belowa engaged the ISWAP elements with rockets and bombs in multiple passes, according an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

**Hours after the strikes, two vehicles conveying about 13 surviving terrorists to another hideout were struck through precision strikes by Nigerian Air Force aircraft, the official added.