Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says its fighter aircraft, engaged in the counter-insurgency war, have bombarded gun trucks belonging to the Boko Haram terrorists group in the Lake Chad region.
NAF’s Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Vice Marshal Adetokunbo Adesanya, who made this known in a statement, also said that its Mi-35M Helicopter gunships deployed to conduct the air strike killed many of the terrorists in their gun trucks which went up in flames.
Adesanya’s statement reads, “The Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE, in the night of 13 April 2018, successfully destroyed some Boko Haram Terrorists (BHT) vehicles at a location, about 12km East of AREGE, in the Lake Chad Region. Earlier on, a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft had discovered BHT activities, with some vehicles mounted with guns, moving within the location.
“Accordingly, the ATF detailed NAF Mi-35M Helicopter gunships to conduct Air Interdiction strikes to take out the targets. “Overhead the location, the attack platform acquired, interdicted and neutralised the targets with rockets and cannons. The subsequent Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) revealed that at the end of the attack, a BHT gun truck, with its entire occupants, was completely destroyed and engulfed in fire.
“Another BHT vehicle was damaged and immobilised as a result of the attack while several BHTs were killed in the process. The NAF continues to provide adequate air support, through the ATF of Operation LAFIYA DOLE, by conducting a range of air operations to create the necessary environment for ground operations to continue apace.