Nigerian army destroys ISWAP camp in Borno

By SUMAILA OGBAJE

The Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole (OPLD) and Artillery Batteries of Sector 3 of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) have destroyed an Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) camp at Tumbun Fulani on the fringes of Lake Chad in Northern Borno.

The Acting Director, Defence Media Operations, Brig.-Gen. Bernard Onyeuko, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.

Onyeuko said the feat was achieved in combined air and artillery bombardments conducted on April 3.

He said it was in furtherance of the coordinated joint offensive by the MNJTF to dislodge and completely rid the Tumbuns Islands of terrorists’ presence and activities.

According to him, the operation was executed on the heels of credible intelligence reports indicating that the ISWAP elements, with their structures concealed under the dense vegetation of the area, used the settlement as a base from where they plan and launch attacks.

“Accordingly, the joint interdiction mission was launched with a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft coordinating the barrage of artillery and air fire towards designated targets in the settlement, destroying them and neutralising some of the ISWAP fighters in the process,” he said.

Onyeuko also disclosed that the Air Task Force has continued to provide airlift support to troops of participating MNJTF national contingents, along with their logistics.

He added that NAF ISR platforms and helicopters were also providing aerial command posts for enhanced coordination of close air support missions as well as fire control support for independent ground artillery bombardment of terrorists’ positions.

The spokesperson reassured that the armed forces would sustain the offensive against the enemies of Nigeria in furtherance of the objective of restoring peace and security in the North East region. (NAN)