The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has knocked out some logistics facilities and other structures belonging to elements of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) at Bukar Meram on the fringes of the Lake Chad in Borno.
Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, made this known in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
Daramola said the operation was conducted through the Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE in continuation of Operation “DECISIVE EDGE.”
He explained that aircraft dispatched by the ATF to provide close air support for ground troops at Gubio in the Northwestern part of Borno also destroyed one gun truck and eliminated some ISWAP fighters at the location.
”The attack at Bukar Meram was executed on March 9 on the heels of Intelligence reports indicating that the terrorists had resumed using the settlement to store their logistics supplies.
”Accordingly, the ATF dispatched its fighter jets to attack the location, with their munitions hitting and destroying the identified structures.
”Similarly, on March 11, fighter jets and a helicopter gunship scrambled by the ATF to provide close air support to ground troops at Gubio neutralised an ISWAP gun truck and some of their fighters as they attempted to beat a retreat after they were roundly defeated by a combination of air and ground fire,” he said.
Daramola said the NAF, in furtherance of the objective of restoring peace and security in the Northeast and operating in concert with surface forces, would continue to carry out air interdiction missions against “the enemies of our Nation.”