By SUMAILA OGBAJE

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has sustained a series of intelligence-driven air interdiction operations across the North-East and North-West, neutralising terrorist elements and degrading their logistics and operational networks.

The Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, said in a statement on Saturday that the operations were conducted between Jan. 1 and Jan. 2 under Operations HADIN KAI and FASAN YAMMA Sector 2.

Ejodame said the air strikes were based on actionable intelligence on terrorist movement, hideouts and logistics, with NAF aircraft engaging identified enclaves, routes and assembly areas to deny the groups freedom of action.

He said in the North-East theatre, NAF aircraft carried out precision strikes on terrorist hideouts at Abirma and Chiralia in the Timbuktu Triangle, following sustained surveillance that confirmed the presence of facilities linked to improvised explosive device (IED) production and attack planning.

According to him, the strikes destroyed the targeted structures, with multiple secondary explosions observed, indicating the destruction of explosive stockpiles and logistics.

Ejodame added that further interdiction missions at Guva in the Mandara Mountains dismantled additional terrorist storage and coordination points, significantly weakening the groups’ capacity to regroup or mount attacks.

He said the operations were extended to the North-West, where NAF aircraft struck terrorist elements around Karaduwa Giginya Na in Matazu Local Government Area of Katsina State.

The NAF spokesman said the terrorists, who were tracked moving in large motorcycle convoys, were engaged at a forested convergence point, leading to the neutralisation of several fighters, destruction of multiple motorcycles and recovery of assorted weapons.

He said the sustained air operations underscored the NAF’s resolve to support joint forces on the ground and dismantle terrorist networks across the country.

Ejodame assured Nigerians that the NAF would continue to conduct precision air operations to protect civilians and support national efforts to restore peace and security. (NAN)