Against the backdrop of reports making the rounds that Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau was seriously injured and one of his deputies, Abba Mustapha killed in a Nigerian Air force bombardment when scores of the terrorist re-grouped in Balla village, near Damboa, military authorities have confirmed that an air force bombardment killed some leaders and commanders of the sect.
Air Commodore Olatokumbo Adesanya, Director of NAF Public Relations, disclosed that “There was indeed air strike on some Boko Haram leaders regrouping and there were high value targets killed during the bombardment”.
Noting that the air strikes took place at the last Friday”, he said, “However, our intelligence operatives are yet to get back to us regarding the personalities of the leaders involved”.
Commodore Adesanya recalled a statement on the bombardment carried out by the Air Component of Operation Lafiya Dole saying “The air interdiction mission on some remnants of the Boko Haram Terrorists took place at dawn on 28 April 2017, in a village 3.42 kilometers North East of Mangosum”.
“On the previous day, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) had successfully provided air cover to troops of 27 Task Force Battalion thereby enabling them to repel an attack by the Boko Haram Terrorists”.
“Subsequently, a NAF Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft trailed the remnants of the insurgents that attacked the Battalion to a village near Mangosum, following which the NAF conducted the air interdiction mission with two Alpha Jets and one F-7Ni aircraft”.
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“Battle Damage Assessment conducted after the strike showed that several leaders of the Boko Haram Terrorist Organization and their followers were killed during the attacks”.
“In addition, a sizeable cache of weapons and equipment was destroyed.
“With the successful air interdiction, the Nigerian Air Force was able to frustrate yet another attempt by the remnants of the Boko Haram Terrorists to regroup in the Sambisa general area.
AFP reports had indicated on Wednesday that Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram’s leader has been reportedly injured and one of his deputies killed in an air strike in northeast Nigeria,
It said civilian and security sources disclosed that Shekau’s deputy, Abba Mustapha was killed in the air strike attack when two Nigerian Air Force jets bombarded fighters who had gathered for prayers in Balla village, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Damboa, on the edge of the Sambisa Forest, last Friday.
AFP further said, “Shekau was wounded in the bombings and is believed to be receiving treatment near the Nigerian border with Cameroon around Kolofata,”
“His deputy, Abba Mustapha, alias Malam Abba, was killed in the attack along with another key lieutenant, Abubakar Gashua, alias Abu Aisha,” the source said.
Another source who is a member of the civilian militia in Maiduguri named, Babakura Kolo, also gave a similar account, saying “Shekau was injured and a number of commanders were killed.
“Among them is his deputy called Malam Abba. They suffered heavy casualties because the bombings targeted a large gathering of his followers attending Friday prayers.”
There was no immediate comment from the Nigerian military when contacted by AFP.
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