Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have intercepted two people suspected to be relatives of fighters from the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) faction, security reporter Zagazola Makama said.

The interception was on 13 September at about 5:30 p.m. Soldiers of 192 Battalion (Mechanised) were on patrol along the Gwoza–Limankara Road in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State, according to the report.

Security sources said the pair were travelling toward the Gathahure and Kunde areas of the Mandara Mountains, where JAS elements are known to operate. Preliminary questioning reportedly found that they left Kaleri Street in Maiduguri on 11 September and moved to Gwoza.

They remain suspects. The military has not published names or a charge sheet in the account circulating on Wednesday. Family members of fighters are sometimes intercepted on those routes; they are also sometimes civilians fleeing camps. Which of those this case is will depend on further screening.

The two were taken into custody for investigation. The Defence Headquarters had not issued a matching national statement at the time of the first reports.