Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said its Air Task Force (ATF) operation in the ongoing counter-terrorism war in the North-East has killed scores of Boko Haram fighters at their hideouts in Borno State.
NAF director of public relations and information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, who made this known in a statement, also said that the ATF destroyed several structures and logistics belonging to the terrorists at Arboko village in the state.
Daramola said: “The Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole has decimated a Boko Haram Terrorists’ (BHT) camp and neutralised some of their fighters at a settlement called Arboko in Borno State.
“The operation was conducted on February 18, while a Nigerian Air Force Alpha jet and an intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform were providing close air support to troops of 82 Brigade, Nigerian Army.
“In the course of the operation, the ISR aircraft spotted a group of BHT fighters within Arboko village and vectored the Alpha jet to engage their camp with rocket fire, thereby degrading the terrorists’ structures and neutralising some of their fighters.
“The NAF, operating in concert with surface forces, will sustain its efforts to completely destroy all remnants of the terrorists in the North-East.”