NAF takes out ISWAP’s hideout in Borno

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), through the Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE, has launched OPERATION RATTLESNAKE III against terrorists’ elements in the North East of the Country.

Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information made this known in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

Daramola said the Air Interdiction Operation, which commenced on Feb. 4, would target selected locations within the North East in order to further degrade the remnants of the terrorists as well as deny them freedom of action.

” On Day One of the Operations, airstrikes by NAF attack aircraft resulted in the destruction of an Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) hideout as well as the neutralisation of some of their fighters at Tongule in the Lake Chad area of Northern Borno.

” The airstrikes were executed following series of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, indicating that ISWAP fighters were harboured in some buildings at the southern edge of the settlement.

”Accordingly, the ATF dispatched its fighter jets to engage the location, scoring accurate hits on the designated target leading to the destruction of the structures and the neutralisation of some of the terrorists,” he said.

Daramola said the NAF, operating in concert with surface forces, would sustain its air campaign to shape the battlespace in the North East for the effective conduct of further ground and air operations.