By Williams Anuku, Abuja
The Nigerian military on Tuesday said that its Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation Lafiya Dole, has killed scores of fighters of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), during its air offensives in Borno state.
Major General John Enenche, Coordinator of Defence Media Operations, (CDMO), disclosed this in an operation update released in Abuja.
General Enenche said that the Air Task Force also knocked out the ISWAP logistics base during the air strikes. conducted at Tumbun Rego on the fringes of Lake Chad in the state.
He said the mission was executed on 22 November 2020 on the heels of credible intelligence reports indicating that the location, with its makeshift structures camouflaged under dense vegetation, was being used by the terrorists as a hub for logistics items conveyed via the lake and its tributaries for onward transportation using trucks and motorcycles.
“The Air Task Force, therefore, dispatched Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets and helicopter gunships to attack the location. Overhead the target area, a significant number of ISWAP elements were observed.
“These were engaged in successive passes by the NAF attack aircraft resulting in the destruction of the terrorists’ structures as well as the neutralization of several of their fighters.
“The Military High Command commends the Air Task Force for their professionalism and urges them to remain resolute in the conduct of operations in order to rid the Country of all terrorist elements”, the CDMO stated.
