The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has intensified its air campaign against insurgents in the North-East, carrying out precision strikes on terrorist strongholds in Sambisa Forest and the Tumbuns.
NOP NIGERIA reports that the Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.
Ejodame said the operations were conducted by the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai.
The Air Force spokesman said the renewed operations were aimed at dismantling terrorist networks and denying insurgents freedom of movement.
He said, “NAF under the Air Component of Operation HADIN KAI, has intensified the tempo of its air campaign in the North-East, unleashing sustained and aggressive precision strikes that are systematically dismantling terrorist networks across Sambisa and the Tumbuns.”
According to him, the strikes followed credible intelligence on insurgent locations.
He added, “Acting on credible intelligence, NAF aircraft struck decisively at insurgent enclaves, obliterating hideouts, crippling logistics hubs, and neutralising scores of fighters in relentless, coordinated attack runs.”
Ejodame said that on April 30, air assets carried out a major air interdiction mission at Alafa in the Sambisa axis.
He said confirmed terrorist infrastructure and supply nodes were engaged and destroyed in successive strikes.
The operation continued on May 1 with another strike on Metele in the Tumbuns.
According to him, “intelligence and surveillance exposed a fortified island stronghold with entrenched fighters, storage facilities, and defensive trench systems.”
“With scores of insurgents confirmed within the target area, NAF aircraft delivered precise and overwhelming firepower, striking and decimating the location,” he said.
Ejodame said the sustained tempo of the operations reflected a deliberate strategy to keep pressure on terrorists.
He said, “The sustained intensity of these operations reflects a deliberate strategy of continuous pressure, denying terrorists any space to regroup or operate.”
The statement also quoted the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, as saying that the operations would continue until terrorist threats were eliminated.
“He reaffirmed the Service’s unyielding resolve to dominate the battlespace, stressing that operations will persist with increased intensity until all terrorist capabilities are dismantled and threats to national security fully neutralised,” the statement said.
The latest strikes followed an earlier coordinated air operation on April 27 targeting terrorist positions in Guduf, located in the Mandara Mountains along Nigeria’s northeastern border with Cameroon.
