NAF Helicopter Bombards New Boko Haram Camp in Northern Borno

By Senator Iroegbu

Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft have bombarded the new camps established by Boko Haram terrorists in the northern part of Borno State.

The Director of Public Relations (DAPR), Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, said in a statement on Tuesday that a night operation conducted on Monday successfully destroyed a new Boko Haram Terrorist (BHT) camp located between Malam Fatori and Kangarwa in Northern Borno.

He said that the new camp is about 4-6km away from the BHT location attacked earlier on August 20, 2016 by NAF Mi-17 helicopter within the same vicinity in a similar night operation that led to the death of about 300 insurgents.

He stated: “The post-strike Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) mission had revealed that surviving BHTs converged at the new location”.

The information, he said,  was later confirmed to be true by series of follow-up Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions that led to the latest strike.

He recalled that the general area around Malam Fatori and Kangarwa is infested with BHTs hence the need to clear the remnants of BHT in the area.

The DOPRI stressed that “air assault is therefore expected to further degrade the capability of the insurgents while fostering the creation of the necessary enablement for own ground troops to operate”.

Meanwhile, he said that NAF Alpha Jets have helped to repel an attack by BHTs on troops of 153 Battalion who were on fighting patrol at Ala Lumshe.

Famuyiwa disclosed that the troops, on Saturday, August 20, 2016, had come under attack from BHTs about 4km south of Marte when the Alpha Jets were called-in to dislodge the insurgents.