The Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation Lafiya Dole has destroyed terrorists’ hideouts and neutralized scores of their fighters in separate airstrikes in Lake Chad and Sambisa forest areas of Borno, the Defence Headquarters says.
The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
Enenche said that the air strike launched on Aug. 16 killed several terrorists while destroying their hideouts and logistics structures at Tumbuma Baba and Boboshe in the state.
He said that the attack was carried out on the first day of missions of a new subsidiary Operation codenamed “HAIL STORM”.
Enenche explained that the operation is an air interdiction aimed at taking out identified terrorists’ targets in the Lake Chad and Sambisa Forest areas of the state.
According to him, the attack at Tumbuma Baba, one of the Island settlements on the fringes of the Lake Chad, was carried out after intelligence reports.
The report indicates that several ISWAP fighters and some of their leaders were harboured in some structures concealed under the thick vegetation of the area.
“The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets dispatched by the ATF to attack the location scored devastating hits on the settlement, killing several of the terrorists and destroying their structures.
“Several terrorists were similarly neutralized and some of their dwellings destroyed at Boboshe, a village along the river line on the Eastern part of the Sambisa Forest, as the NAF jets took turns in engaging the location.
“The Armed Forces of Nigeria, operating in concert with other security agencies and stakeholders, will sustain its efforts to rid the North East of all terrorists and other criminal elements,” he said.
