Air Component of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) under Operation HADIN KAI has eliminated more than 40 terrorists in coordinated close air support and air interdiction operations at Azir and Musarram areas of Borno State.
This is contained in a statement by the Director, Public Relations and Information, NAF, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame in Abuja, explained that the operations has disrupted planned attacks and bolstering ongoing ground operations.
Ejodame said the NAF aircraft, in the early hours of Jan. 16, swiftly responded to a distress report at Azir, where troops were engaged with terrorists withdrawing from the area.
“Scans revealed terrorist elements attempting to regroup under nearby tree cover, prompting precise and successive air strikes that neutralised several of them.
“Post-strike assessment confirmed no further threats, while feedback from ground troops, local authorities and community sources indicated a significant degradation of terrorist presence and a return of relative calm.
“Earlier on Jan. 15, NAF air assets carried out a successful air interdiction at Musarram in the Tumbuns general area after intelligence revealed terrorists assembling on canoes to launch attacks along the Baga and Fish Dam axis.
“On arrival, the aircraft sighted about 10 canoes and over 40 suspected terrorists, who were engaged in multiple passes, throwing them into disarray.
“Some fleeing elements were trailed and neutralised, while others who regrouped at an assembly area were also engaged, effectively dismantling the terrorist concentration,” he said.
Commenting on the development, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, said the operations demonstrated the effectiveness of intelligence-led air power and close air–ground coordination in denying terrorists freedom of action.
Aneke reaffirmed the NAF’s commitment to providing timely and decisive air support to ground forces.
The Chief of the Air Staff, assured Nigerians of sustained pressure on terrorist elements as the Armed Forces of Nigeria continue efforts to degrade their capabilities and stabilise affected areas.
Veteran journalist and recipient of A.B.C Yola, Reporter of the Year Award (1997), Hassan Umar Shallpella, works with WAP as a Regional Correspondence. He was trained at Institute of Mass Communication and Technology Jos and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Training School Lagos.He was a News desk Editor and a Correspondent at the Punch newspaper and till 2019, was the Deputy Editor ofThe Scope newspaper.
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