Nigerian air force strikes Boko Haram camps in NE Borno

LAGOS, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has commenced an intensive bombardment of logistics bases used by Boko Haram militants in their Sambisa forest hideouts in northeast part of the country.

NAF Spokesperson Olatokunbo Adesanya said in a statement reaching Xinhua in Lagos on Saturday that the targeted insurgents' structures were destroyed and engulfed in fire, killing the terrorists hiding in them.

The attacks resulted in a large part of the settlement being engulfed in fire, destroying the insurgents' structures and neutralizing the fleeing ones, the spokesperson added.

According to him, four NAF fighter aircraft took turns to attack structures occupied by insurgents' elements in the settlement.

Adesanya said in the statement that the force component of operation "LAFIA DOLE" conducted an air interdiction mission on insurgents' hideout in Kolaram, 37 kilometer East of Monguno area of the state.

He said previous Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions by the force platforms had revealed Kolaram to be an active Boko Haram Terrorists' location from where the terrorists had launched attacks on government surface forces in Northern Borno.

Nigeria has made considerable gains against the terror group, dislodging its fighters from the Sambisa Forest, the group's largest training camp in the country, early this year.

Boko Haram has been blamed for the death of more than 20,000 people and displacing of 2.3 million others in Nigeria since 2009. Enditem