The Nigeria Air Force yesterday said it has used a Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) to neutralise scores of the Boko Haram terrorists in Sambisa, The Nation reports.
It added that the air strikes also led to the destruction of the artillery guns and gun trucks belonging to the terrorists.
The NAF Director of Public Relation and Information, Air Vice Marshal Olatukunbo Adesanya, in a statement supported with video footage of the operation, said the use of the remotely piloted aircraft followed an Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform confirming the presence of the insurgents in the area.
The statement reads: “A Nigerian Air Force (NAF) remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), on 27 January 2018, successfully destroyed an artillery gun and some gun trucks belonging to the Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) in the Sambisa Forest. A NAF Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform and the RPA had observed the terrorists withdrawing with the artillery gun and gun trucks after an unsuccessful operation. The NAF crews on both the ISR and the armed RPA trailed the withdrawing insurgents to their final destination in Parisu. Thereafter, the RPA acquired the artillery gun position and attacked the piece, causing a huge explosion and destroying the equipment. The explosion also killed insurgents operating the equipment and those around it while a few others were sighted fleeing from the site of the explosion. The successful air strikes are part of the ongoing coordinated air and land operations aimed at ridding the Sambisa Forest of the remnants of the insurgents.”