The Nigerian Air Force, working in concert with the Air Force of Niger Republic provided support for Nigerian ground forces at the weekend and thwarted a Boko Haram Terrorist (BHT) attack at Gashigar in Borno.
Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, in a statement on Sunday said the operation was carried out on Saturday.
“The operation was carried out overnight of October 27 and early morning of October 28, following a report from troops at Gashigar that their location was under attack.
“Accordingly, a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform that was on a mission at another location was immediately redirected to Gashigar,” he said.
The NAF spokesman said that in addition, a pair of Mi-35 helicopter gunships were scrambled to the location.
“Overhead Gashigar, the NAF ISR platform was joined by another from the Nigerien Air Force and they both were able to identify the location of the BHTs, in 13 Gun Trucks, as they advanced towards the camp from two different directions.
“They subsequently directed the fire of the helicopter gunships and ground troops support weapons towards the terrorists,” he said.
Daramola said that the combined fire forced the BHTs to retreat from the camp.
“However, the BHTs attempted to regroup at a location outside the camp but were again engaged by the helicopter gunships and sent scampering in different directions, with several of them killed or injured in the process,” he said.
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