The Nigerian Air Force is again claiming to have decimated Boko Haram settlements in Borno State, while raining liquid fire (Ruwan Wuta) on the terrorists as part of its counter-insurgency battle in the North-east.
A statement by the air force spokesman, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, gives the details:
On 12 Dec 17, the Air Task Force of OP LAFIYA DOLE commenced an intensive bombardment of the hideouts of Boko Haram Terrorists (BHT) in Northern BORNO and the SAMBISA general area in an operation codenamed Operation RUWAN WUTA 3.
On the first day of the Operation, an air interdiction mission was conducted on a BHT hideout in KOLARAM, which is 37km East of MONGUNO. Previous Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions by Nigerian Air Force (NAF) platforms had revealed KOLARAM to be an active BHT location from where the terrorists had launched attacks on our surface forces in Northern BORNO.
Accordingly, 2 NAF helicopters were detailed for a pre-dawn attack on the settlement, followed by another wave of attacks from 4 fighter aircraft. Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) showed that several structures were destroyed, causing fire within the settlement while some insurgents were killed in the process.
On the same day, one NAF helicopter and some fighter aircraft attacked an adjoining settlement Southeast of KOLARAM, targeting structures that had been observed to host significant BHT activities. The targeted BHT structures were destroyed and engulfed in fire, killing the terrorists hiding in them.
During the attacks on KOLARAM and Southeast of KOLARAM, some escaping insurgents were tracked as they fled northwards to JUBILARAM, which is 38km Northeast of MONGUNO.
Accordingly, another wave of air interdiction was launched on the location, which was also found to be active with BHT activities. Four NAF fighter aircraft took turns to attack structures occupied by BHT elements in the settlement.
Subsequent BDA revealed that the attacks resulted in a large part of the settlement being engulfed in fire, thereby destroying the BHTs structures and neutralizing the fleeing BHTs.