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.
This was disclosed by the Acting Director, Defence Media Operations, Brig. Gen. Bernard Onyeuko, in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.
He said the feat was achieved in combined air and artillery bombardments conducted on April 3 in furtherance of the coordinated joint offensive by the MNJTF to force out and completely rid the Tumbuns Islands of terrorists’ presence and activities.
He explained that the operation was carried out based on credible intelligence reports indicating that the ISWAP elements, with their structures hidden under the dense vegetation of the area, used the settlement as a base from where they planned and launched attacks.
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“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 added.
The statement further disclosed that the Air Task Force has been providing airlift support to troops of participating MNJTF national contingents, along with their logistics.
It also disclosed that NAF ISR platforms and helicopters were 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.