The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), through its Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation Lafiya Dole, has launched ‘Operation Rattle Snake III’ against terrorists in the North East.
In a statement signed by NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Cdre Ibikunle Daramola, the air interdiction operation, which commenced on Tuesday, will target selected locations within the North East to further degrade remnants of the terrorists and deny them the freedom to act.
Daramola said on the first day of the operation, strikes by NAF attack aircraft resulted in the destruction of an Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) hideout and killing of some of its fighters at Tongule in the Lake Chad area of northern Borno.
He said: “The airstrikes were executed following series of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, indicating that ISWAP fighters were harboured in some buildings at the southern edge of the settlement.”