The fighter aircraft of the Nigerian Air Force have hit locations and logistics bases of the Boko Haram insurgents at the Sambisa Forest.
The Director of Information and Public Relations of the NAF, Group Capt. Ayodele Famuyiwa said, in an e-mail yesterday, that the raids were carried out in the day and at night with F-7Ni fighter aircraft, Alpha jets and Mi-25 helicopter gunship.
He said the attack on the locations of the insurgents was part of the Operation Forest Storm which was launched by the NAF on October 2, 2016, to degrade Boko Haram’s capacity.
He said NAF observed, during and after the attacks, that there was no movement of vehicles by the insurgents, which indicated that they could be running out of logistics.
He added that further investigation conducted by the NAF and human intelligence revealed that a large number of the insurgents were killed in the air strikes.
He said: “The Nigerian Air Force, in the past one week, has successfully struck a number of Boko Haram terrorist locations, including their logistics bases within the Sambisa Forest.
“The air interdiction missions were conducted day and night, using a combination of combat platforms comprising F-7Ni fighter aircraft, Alpha jets and Mi-24V helicopter gunship.
“The latest air strikes against the Boko Haram are fallouts of Operation Forest Storm launched by the NAF on October 2, 2016, to further degrade the capability of the Boko Haram elements within the Sambisa general area in order to create the enabling environment for own ground forces to continue their operation.
“From intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, it appears the insurgents are low on logistics, as no vehicle was seen moving.
“Furthermore, a Battle Damage Assessment showed that the entire operation was a success, even as human intelligence confirmed that a number of the insurgents were killed.”
