Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has said its fighter jets engaged in the counter-insurgency operations in the North East have destroyed some camps and locations belonging to the Boko Haram group and killed scores of the terrorists. Director of public relations and information, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, made this known in a statement at the weekend.
The statement made available to Daily Sun, reads: “The Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole, on April 28, 2018, neutralised scores of Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) at Yuwe in Borno State through successful air strikes. The mission was conducted following intelligence report that BHT fighters were hibernating in the settlement.
“Consequently, the ATF detailed Nigerian Air Force Alpha jet aircraft and one Mi-35 helicopter gunship to conduct air interdiction on the BHT location in two waves. Overhead the location, the NAF fighter aircraft acquired and attacked the terrorists in the settlement with bombs, rockets and canons, while a NAF Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) conducted battle damage assessment (BDA) of the mission. The BDA revealed that, at the end of the attack, some of the buildings in the location were successfully destroyed and engulfed in fire while the occupying terrorists were neutralised.
“Thereafter, some of the terrorists that survived were seen scampering for safety, with various degrees of wounds. The fighter aircraft then attacked the fleeing BHTs in subsequent waves of attack.”