Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets have carried out series of sorties in the Lake Chad Basin, destroying the camp of the leader of the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), Fiya Ba Yuram, killing scores of his terrorists fighters.
The airstrikes, which was targeted at the notorious Fiya Ba Yuram, the current leader of ISWAP in Sambisa Forest, was carried out over the weekend.
Sources confirmed that he took over the leadership of the ISWAP group following the killing of Boko Haram Leader, Abubakar Shekau, last year.
Also, similar air strikes were also undertaken in the Tunbuns near Lake Chad after suspected terrorists’ activities were observed in the area believed to be a training camp for ISWAP fighters.
The raid at Fiya Ba Yuram’s enclave followed a credible and actionable intelligence by the Air Component of Operation of Hadin Kai, which revealed that terrorists were gathering for an undisclosed mission.
An intelligence military source, told PRNigeria that air strikes were then authorized and carried out on the location, following the intelligence.
“An assessment of the location after the strikes revealed it to be successful, though it remained unconfirmed if Fiya Ba Yuram was among the terrorists neutralized in the strikes.
“The targets were subsequently acquired and engulfed in flames all after. The aftermath of the airstrike revealed that pandemonium broke out as the remnant of surviving terrorists took cover under nearby trees which were later struck by the aircraft,” a source disclosed.
NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, who confirmed the airstrikes, said: “Yes strikes were carried out on some specific targets in the Tunbuns and Sambisa with varying degrees of successes recorded. The NAF won’t however be drawn into the details of those neutralized.”
First published in PRNigeria
