The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has insisted that its airstrike in Sokoto targeted and struck Lakurawa terrorists group and its logistics base leading to a secondary explosion that killed villagers.
The director, defence media operations Maj.- Gen. Edward Buba stated this on Friday while giving an update on the airstrikes in Sokoto where 10 civilians were killed.
“The air strike indeed hit the logistic base of the terrorist which led to secondary explosions and it was these secondary explosions that led to some casualties that was earlier reported,” he said.
He explained that prior to the operation on December 25, 2024 there was confirmed and heightened terrorist activities in the area.
According to him, a sustained intelligence, surveillance, recognizance was conducted for an extended period of time to confirm the presence of the terrorists hibernating there and to also make sure that those in that location were indeed terrorists.
He added that because of the painstaking measures, the operation which should have taken place on an earlier date, had to be rescheduled to December 25 when that operation was conducted.
General Buba said the operation was planned as a joint effort to leverage the air component’s precision strike capability and the land component’s ability of having the boots on the ground.
He explained further that the operation started with pre-operational intelligence, surveillance, and recognition missions to confirm the terrorist activities within the general area.
Thereafter, human intelligence was deployed and their reports corroborated the intelligence, surveillance, and recognition findings, emphasizing the strategic importance of neutralizing the location.
“Having confirmed, aircrafts were dispatched to conduct precision air strikes on the identified hideouts at about 0600 hours on that day.
“The strike was executed with precision-guided munitions to minimize collateral damage. The land component was tactically deployed at blocking positions around the target location to prevent the escape of the Lakurawa terrorist groups, as well as to provide immediate post-strike assessment and follow-up actions. Following the air strikes, ground forces moved into the area to assess the strike’s impact.
He continued “The ground forces confirmed that the hideout was successfully neutralized with minimal damage observed in the surrounding villages. The ground forces interacted with the locals in the area and confirmed the presence of the Lakurawa terrorists in that general area.
“The ground forces also confirmed that the air strikes achieved its primary objective of neutralizing the Lakurawa terrorist group’s hideout. “