NAF airstrikes attacked terrorist hideouts in the north, east, Noth west.
In recent operations across the theatres, the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) in the Northeast and Operation Hadarin Daji in the Northwest have destroyed multiple terrorist enclaves.
Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, the NAF’s Director of Public Relations and Information, said this on Sunday in Abuja.
Gabkwet stated that the activities were coordinated with the land component and other security services operating within the operational theatres.
He stated that the forces had ensured that terrorists, rebels, and other criminal groups operating in the two districts posed no substantial security concerns to innocent residents.
Gabkwet stated in the North East that precision air attacks by the OPHK Air Component on Nov. 3 resulted in the elimination of numerous terrorists at their meeting spot near Degbawa, a remote location within the Mandara Mountains in Borno’s Gwoza Local Government Area.
He stated that the air attacks were ordered when information revealed the presence of several top terrorist figures and their foot soldiers approaching the place for a possible meeting.
According to him, their big gathering raised worries, prompting an air interdiction on the spot, with disastrous consequences for the terrorists.
“A post-strike evaluation found that numerous terrorists had been eliminated.”
“According to many sources, the terrorists deliberately selected the site to avoid being easily identified, particularly by NAF aircraft.”
“However, the aftermath of the strike proved the terrorists wrong, since their nefarious preparations to meet were discovered, resulting in the success of the air strike.”
“The sources also emphasised that this strike was a significant setback for the terrorists who had recently been on the receiving end of the OPHK’s air and land components,” he said.
According to a NAF spokeswoman, there are also significant evidence that terrorists were responsible for the recent attack on some civilians in Yobe’s Geidam Local Government Area on Oct. 31.
He claimed that the terrorists intended to meet to discuss the incident and plot the next line of action against innocent civilians and other vulnerable targets.
In the North West, Gabkwet stated that the OPHD Air Component carried out a series of successful airstrikes on Nov. 1 in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State, targeting the stronghold of a prominent terrorist kingpin, Babaru.
Babaru, he claims, has been involved in multiple acts of terrorism and banditry across Kankara and neighbouring LGAs in Katsina State.
He claimed Badaru was implicated in the February 2 massacre of more than 100 inhabitants of Gidan Gari and Yarmai-Yadiya villages in Bakori Local Government Area.
According to him, the airstrikes damaged Babaru’s hideout and killed numerous terrorists, however it was unclear whether Babaru was among those killed.
According to Gabkwet, the air attacks were also launched out at the enclave of a terrorist leader known as Mai Solar in Zamfara’s Maru Local Government Area.
The air attacks, he claims, destroyed clusters of enclaves used as hideouts by the kingpin and his associates at the location.