The presidency has confirmed that the Nigerian military killed an ISWAP commander, Abou Sufyan and scores of his fighters with airstrikes from A-29 Super Tucano along the fringes of Lake Chad in Borno State.
Special assistant to the President Buhari on New Media, Bashir Ahmad in a Facebook post on Tuesday wrote:
“ISWAP Commander, Terrorist Abou-Sufyan is confirmed killed by the Nigerian troops
in Lake Chad region”.
It was gathered that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) component of Operation Hadin Kai launched a series of attacks on Sunday at ISWAP armoury base at Kusuma and Sigir in the Marte local government area of the state, PRNigeria reports.
The operation was conducted after Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions revealed the presence of several fighters who converged in the area in their preparatory move to launch attacks on troops in the axis.
Davido Names Killers Of Dowen College Student, Sylvester Oromoni
An intelligence source told PRNigeria, “The ATF scrambled Super Tucano aircraft in attacking the target area in multiple waves which recorded direct hits on a weapon-manufacturing facility, fuel dump, armoury base and an infrastructure filled with vehicles and motorcycles.
“Some terrorists fleeing the area were also intercepted and neutralised in follow-up attacks by the Nigerian troops.
“The week-long sustained air offensives have impacted on jihadists’ operational command and thwarted the group’s plans to carry out major attacks on the military formations in the axis.
“We are aware that some of the surviving and wounded terrorists who escape are hiding under thick trees around Arinna Sorro and Arinna Ciki.”