Not less than 15 members of Boko Haram insurgents were recently killed when personnel of the Nigeria Air Force, NAF, carried out a first major air campaign under the newly launched ‘Operation Gama-Aiki’ mission.
It was learnt that the terrorists were killed as an Alpha Jet bombed their convoy in the northern part of Borno state.
The aerial bombardment came about 72 hours after the air force commissioned despatched six war planes to tackle the deadly Boko Haram sect in the country’s volatile northeast.
NAF’s Operation Gama Aiki, a Hausa-coined nom de guerre which means ‘Finish the Job’, was launched on Friday, June 17 with a mission to dislodge remnants of Boko Haram insurgents fleeing Sambisa forest.
The spokesman of the Nigerian Air Force, Ayodele Famuyiwa, a group captain, said the insurgents were spotted under trees by one of its intelligence planes, King Air A350i, while on surveillance of the insurgency-ravaged mission. He said the insurgents were killed in the bombing and their seven Hilux vans destroyed.
He added that some wounded terrorists fled with gunshot wounds.
“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,” the statement said.
“Troops also confirmed two gun trucks were among vehicles destroyed by the Alpha Jet. Two AK-47 rifles, two RPGs and cache of assorted munitions were recovered.” Boko Haram fighters had two weeks ago recaptured the communities around the border with the Niger Republic from where they had been launching attacks on civilians and security forces.
