Several Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) have been neutralized and some structures in their camp at Abulam in the Sambisa forest area of Borno State have been destroyed in airstrikes conducted on Tuesday, by the Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE.
The mission, according to the Air Force spokesperson, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, was executed to mark the commencement of Operation RATTLESNAKE 2, an Air Interdiction Operation aimed at taking out some identified insurgent camps and logistics facilities to further unhinge the terrorists’ centre of gravity and diminish their fighting capability.
He added that Abullam was selected for an attack on ‘Day One’ of the Operation based on credible intelligence reports indicating that the terrorists had resumed using the once-abandoned settlement as a staging point from where they launch attacks against Army ground troops’ locations.
“Accordingly, the ATF detailed its attack aircraft, supported by an Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft, to attack designated compounds within the settlement.”
The jets he adds, “took turns to engage the target in successive passes leading to the destruction of some of the structures as well as the killing of several terrorists.”
It will be recalled that December 2019, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) planned and executed the highly successful Operation RATTLESNAKE and Operation RATTLESNAKE 2 to consolidate the gains of the earlier operation and shape the battlespace for further air and ground operations.
But between December 25 and 26, 2019, suspected members of Boko Haram rattled Borno State with a bloody attack, which left many Nigerian soldiers death after alerting that they were coming to retake the territory.