The Nigerian Air Force attack helicopters have shot and killed a gang leader and scores of the bandits gathered on Doumbourou Hill in Zamfara and believed to be planning another attack.
The attack by the two helicopters was part of Operation Diran Mikiya in the North-West.
The Air Force has recorded a number of successes in the recent past in the fight against bandits in the North east, especially Zamfara.
Thursday attack according to the Air Force came after an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft spotted “the bandits in large numbers and armed with high calibre weapons.”
According to NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, the attack helicopters were deployed by the Air Task Force of the military operation and they engaged the bandits and destroyed their makeshift houses.
He said the helicopters bombarded the target area in quick successions with the first attack causing some damage to the structures and neutralising some of their fighters.
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He said, “The Air Task Force of Operation Diran Mikiya has destroyed another bandits’ hideout and neutralised several of their fighters near Doumbourou Hill in Zamfara. The attack was executed, following human intelligence reports, which were later confirmed by Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance missions.
“It indicated that a large number of bandits, armed with high-calibre weapons, regularly assembled at a compound around the foot of the Hill before going out on their operations.
“Accordingly, the ATF scrambled two NAF attack helicopters, supported by an ISR platform, to engage the bandits and destroy their compound. The helicopters strafed the target area in successive waves of attack, with the first wave causing some damage to the structures and neutralising some of their fighters.”
