Not fewer than 49 Boko Haram insurgents were reportedly killed when a Super Tukano warplane bombed three terrorist hideouts in Sambisa forest in Borno State during multiple raids.
It was gathered that the air bombardment was conducted by the Air Task Force, Operation Hadin Kai, on August 30 and 31, at the terrorists’ camps of Gargash, Minna and Gazuwa, in the Bama Local Government Area of the state.
According to Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency expert and security analyst in Lake Chad, the air bombardment targeted a moving truck of the terrorists in Gargash, killing all its occupants on August 30.
He noted that the combat aircraft took another turn attacking targets at another location given as Minna, scoring crucial hits on the hideouts leading to the neutralization of several Boko Haram fighters while others escaped with bullet wounds.
On August 31, another airstrike was conducted in Gazuwa after intelligence surveillance revealed the large presence of the fighters who were engaging in some sort of transaction.
“The ATF, therefore, detailed its fighter jets to attack the two locations, killing scores of the terrorists and destroying their equipment, some of which was seen engulfed in flames,” Makama said.
Sources said that about 29 terrorists were neutralized in Gazuwa, one truck with four fighters killed in Gargash, while 16 other fighters met their Waterloo in Minna. The top intelligence sources noted that the air force operating in concert with surface forces will sustain its offensives against the terrorists in the North-East.
Recall that the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, has charged Nigerian Air Force (NAF) operational Commanders to ‘show no mercy’ and ensure they employ maximum firepower against terrorists posing security threats in the country.