The United States has disclosed that the cache of seized materials from terrorists during its recent raid in Nigeria was the largest haul of enemy electronic equipment recovered since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
According to the US government, it had to deploy an additional aircraft to evacuate electronic devices and other intelligence materials seized during the counter-terrorism operation, due to the sheer size of the equipment.
Besides, Washington revealed that US intelligence agencies had begun to examine the devices confiscated to gain deeper insight into the communications, networks and operational methods of the Islamic State (ISIS).
The disclosure was made by the United States Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council, Dr. Sebastian Gorka, during an interview with Marissa Streit, the CEO of PragerU, a US conservative media organisation.
Gorka described the Nigerian mission as one of the most significant counter-terrorism successes recorded by the administration, likening the operation to scenes from a Hollywood action thriller.
He said that particular operation resulted in the killing of 199 jihadists in a single raid, which he described as the largest enemy neutralisation in a single counter-terrorism operation since the September 11 attacks.
“I can talk about this because it has been declassified. The President is not…going around the world like some lunatic neocon saying, ‘we will turn the world into America’.
“But if you’re threatening Americans, or if you’re targeting Christians, he has a very strong message to send to you, whether it was his Christmas Day strike, or three weeks ago, what we did in Nigeria.
“Three weeks ago in Nigeria, I watched it live from the Situation Room. It was like being in a Tom Clancy movie, but it’s better because it’s real. I watched our operatives kill 199 jihadists in one operation.
“Now, why is this important? That is the biggest neutralisation enemy killed in action since September the 11th. 199 jihadists who will not harm Americans again,” the US official said in the interview.
“Not only that, from that raid we brought home, we needed an extra plane to bring home all the electronic material that we captured in those camps. The haul was three times bigger than any enemy electronics haul since 9-11.
“That is priceless, because now our experts are taking apart all of that information, looking at how ISIS is communicating with each other. We are so back in the game of counterterrorism. It is just superlative to watch our professionals,” he added.
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