By FOLUSHO ALADE, ABUJA
Air Component of Operation Thunder Strike has disrupted armed bandits’ hideouts in Kuduru and Kwaimbana forests areas in Kaduna State in a clearance operation.
According to a report released on Friday by the Defence Media Operations (DMO), several bandits were also neutralized.
The report contained in a statement signed by the Coordinator, DMO, MAJ GEN JOHN ENENCHE said the air strikes were carried out on 2nd and 3rd of September 2020 after credible intelligence reports indicating that the 2 locations were being used as staging areas by the bandits.
The full statement read: “The Air Component of Operation THUNDER STRIKE has neutralized several armed bandits and disrupted their camps in the Kuduru and Kwaimbana Forest areas of Kaduna State. This was achieved through separate air strikes carried out on 2 and 3 September 2020 on the heels of credible intelligence reports indicating that the 2 locations were being used as staging areas by the bandits.
“ The attack on the Kuduru Forest hideout was executed after aerial reconnaissance missions observed significant number of armed bandits around some compounds in a small settlement within the forest. Accordingly, the Air Component dispatched Nigerian Air Force (NAF) jets and helicopter gunships to attack the location. The attack aircraft took turns in strafing the target area leading to the neutralization of several of the bandits as well as damage to their dwellings.
“ At the Kwaimbana Forest, where some bandits were seen along with many rustled cattle around some huts and makeshift structures, the NAF jets and helicopter gunships engaged the area in successive passes, taking out some of the bandits”, the statement said.
