The Nigerian Air Force has said the Air Component of Operations, Hadarin Daji and Hadin Kai, have, in different air interdictions, killed dozens of terrorists in Katsina and Borno states during the weekend.

The director, public relations and information, NAF, AVM Edward Gabkwet, made this known in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

Mr Gabkwet said the streak of successful air strikes denied terrorists freedom of movement aimed at targeting soft targets, especially innocent civilians.

He said that one of such strikes was carried out on April 5 at a terrorist enclave located in the north-west of Yartsamiya Village in the Danmusa Local Government Area of Katsina.

According to him, a set of 11 armed terrorists were sighted moving towards a mountainous area at the location.

“Soon after, two separate sets of terrorists joined the first set of terrorists, and all were observed heading in the same direction towards the mountainous high ground. The need not to let the opportunity of neutralising the terrorists slip thus becomes imperative.

“Subsequently, the terrorists were effectively engaged by NAF aircraft in several passes, with several neutralised and the few survivors scampering in disarray,” he said.

Mr Gabkwet said the air strikes by the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai in the early hours of Saturday at Grazah in the Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno also yielded the requisite outcome.

He said the previous intelligence had revealed that Grazah, previously known as a hideout for terrorists, was converted into a logistics storage hub and an area for fabricating their improvised explosive devices and other ammunition.

According to him, recent intelligence also revealed significant terrorists’ activities consistent with terrorists’ behaviour around some makeshift structures at the location.

“Consequently, air interdiction was conducted at the location with battle damage assessment footage and feedback received revealing several terrorists neutralised. These operations, carried out deep into terrorists’ enclaves, will continue as these areas are believed to aid their recruitment, training and nurturing of potential terrorists.

“Attacking their logistics hubs also helps in reducing their ability to carry out massive attacks, especially on innocent civilians and troop’s locations. The provision of timely information/intelligence by the populace has also been key to the successes recorded and will remain so if sustained,” he added.

(NAN)