Military air strikes have reportedly killed more than 40 fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) at Badu village, south of Gudumbali in Borno State, destroying two vehicles and about 20 motorcycles belonging to the insurgents.

The operation was reportedly conducted on October 10, targeting a concentration of the insurgent group's elite Murabitun fighters deployed to the area for mobile patrols and surveillance.

Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication, reported that a prominent ISWAP commander, known as a Qaid, was among those killed in the operation.

According to the publication, preliminary intelligence indicated that most of the casualties occurred inside and around a building hit during the air strikes.

The Murabitun unit was described as an elite mobile patrol force typically deployed for periods of two to four weeks to launch opportunistic attacks and provide early warning along the Gudumbali-Kukawa-Gajiram corridor.

The report said the fighters were believed to have been operating in the area to prevent Nigerian troops from advancing towards the Lake Chad region.

It added that ISWAP fighters from the Lake Chad area arrived in Badu early on October 11 to evacuate surviving casualties and recover those affected by the air strikes.

However, the arriving insurgents reportedly engaged Fulani herders around the abandoned village, according to sources cited by the publication.

The reported operation comes amid sustained military efforts to disrupt insurgent movements and degrade ISWAP's operational capabilities in the Lake Chad region.