… Terrorists’ hideouts also destroyed
…scores of fighters eliminated in Lake Chad and Sambisa forest areas
By FOLUSHO ALADE, ABUJA
The fight against insurgency, banditry and other forms of criminalities received another boost on Monday with the report that Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole has destroyed terrorists’ hideouts and logistics facilities in the Lake Chad and Sambisa forest areas of Borno State, North-East, Nigeria.
According to the report made available by the Defence Media Operations (DMO) of the Defence headquarters in Abuja, scores of fighters were also killed during the operation.
The report contained in a Press release from the Defence Media Operations and signed by its Coordinator, MAJ GEN JOHN ENENCHE said the air strikes were executed on the 16th of August 2020, by a new subsidiary of Operation Lafiya Dole codenamed “HAIL STORM”.
The statement said: “ the Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE has neutralized scores of terrorists and destroyed their hideouts and logistics structures at Tumbuma Baba and Boboshe in Borno State.
“This was achieved in air strikes executed yesterday, 16 August 2020, on the first day of missions of a new subsidiary Operation codenamed “HAIL STORM”, which is an air interdiction operation aimed at taking out identified Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram Terrorists’ (BHTs’) targets in the Lake Chad and Sambisa Forest areas of Borno State.
“The attack at Tumbuma Baba, one of the Island settlements on the fringes of the Lake Chad, was carried out after Human Intelligence (HUMINT) reports indicated that several ISWAP fighters and some of their leaders were harboured in some structures concealed under the thick vegetation of the area.
“The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets dispatched by the ATF to attack the location scored devastating hits on the settlement, killing several of the terrorists and destroying their structures. Several terrorists were similarly neutralized and some of their dwellings destroyed at Boboshe, a village along the river line on the Eastern part of the Sambisa Forest, as the NAF jets took turns in engaging the location.
“The Armed Forces of Nigeria, operating in concert with other security agencies and stakeholders, will sustain its efforts to rid the North East of all terrorists and other criminal elements”, the statement concluded.
