Air Force jet kills 15 Boko Haram fighters

The Air Component of OPERATION LAFIYA DOLE at the weekend foiled a plan by Boko Haram Terrorists to ambush forces harboured at Doron Naira, north of Borno State.
Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, Director of Public Relations and Information, in a statement said a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) King Air A350i Beechcraft aircraft on Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission sighted “a group of terrorists in 7 Hilux vehicles, hiding un­der tress at a location along the axis of advance of own ground forces towards Kangarawa, north of Borno State.”

It noted that following the discovery, an Alpha Jet was scrambled to attack the Boko Haram location.
“The attack was successful as 15 members of the Boko Haram terrorists were killed and the whole vehicles de­stroyed.
“The casualty figure was confirmed by ground forces, who subsequently consoli­dated on the gains of the air effort to pursue and inflict further casualty on the fleeing wounded members of the ter­rorist group.
“Troops also confirmed that 2 gun trucks were among vehicles destroyed by the Al­pha Jet as 2 x AK-47 rifles, 2 x RPGs and cache of assorted munitions were recovered.
“The latest victory against the terrorist group brings to fore the important role of air­power in counter insurgency operation.
“In furtherance of this role, the NAF has been relentless in its effort to shape the bat­tlespace and provide favour­able environment for own surface forces to operate.”