By Musa Umar Bologi
Abuja
Nigerian Air Force has stated that it had destroyed a Boko Haram terrorists’ facility for manufacturing of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
Its spokesperson, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, said in a statement yesterday that the facility, which was in a place known as YIWE Forest, located 23km south of Konduga in Borno state, was destroyed by NAF fighter jets on Monday.
He said: “Previous NAF Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions had revealed the location to be a BHT hideout, from where the Maiduguri suicide bombing of November 18, 2017, was reportedly planned.
“Available Human Intelligence also revealed that the hideout contained IED-making facility for the insurgents’ suicide bombing attacks. Accordingly, one mi-17 helicopter, two x Alpha jets and two x F-7Ni aircraft were detailed to carry out air interdiction on the target over a two-day period. Overhead the location, the aircraft took turns to deliver a combination of bombs, rockets and cannons on the target.
“The subsequent Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) revealed that the strikes had destroyed the IED-making facility and other BHT structures, killing an unspecified number of insurgents in the process. The air strikes also caused a huge flame within the settlement, owing to the cache of IEDs stored by the BHTs, while a few fleeing insurgents were further strafed with cannons and rockets.”
