The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), says it has commenced Operation “RUWAN WUTA III,” as part of efforts to further decimate the remnant activities of the insurgents in the country.
The Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF Headquarters, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.
He noted that the commencement of intensive bombardment on hideouts of Boko Haram Terrorists (BHT) in Northern BORNO and the SAMBISA general area in an operation by the Nigerian Air Force against Boko Haram terrorists, On 12 Dec 17, recorded major success against terrorists as they attacked their settlement with bombs, which destroyed the targeted structures.
The NAF Spokesperson, disclosed that, “On the first day of the Operation, an air interdiction mission was conducted on a BHT hideout in KOLARAM, which is 37km East of MONGUNO. Previous Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions by Nigerian Air Force (NAF) platforms had revealed KOLARAM to be an active BHT location from where the terrorists had launched attacks on our surface forces in Northern BORNO”.
“Accordingly, 2 NAF helicopters were detailed for a pre-dawn attack on the settlement, followed by another wave of attacks from 4 fighter aircraft. Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) showed that several structures were destroyed, causing fire within the settlement while some insurgents were killed in the process”. On the same day, one NAF helicopter and some fighter aircraft attacked an adjoining settlement Southeast of KOLARAM, targeting structures that had been observed to host significant BHT activities. The targeted BHT structures were destroyed and engulfed in fire, killing the terrorists hiding in them.
The statement noted that, during the attacks on KOLARAM and Southeast of KOLARAM, some escaping insurgents were tracked as they fled northwards to JUBILARAM, which is 38km Northeast of MONGUNO.
“Accordingly, another wave of air interdiction was launched on the location, which was also found to be active with BHT activities. Four NAF fighter aircraft took turns to attack structures occupied by BHT elements in the settlement. Subsequent BDA revealed that the attacks resulted in a large part of the settlement being engulfed in fire, thereby destroying the BHTs structures and neutralizing the fleeing BHTs”, it read.