Military sources on Monday confirmed that about 30 terrorists were killed and their camps destroyed by air strikes of a Nigerian Military fighter jet in Zamfara State at the weekend.
One of the source disclosed that the terrorists are criminals working for a wanted, notorious bandit leader, in the North West, known as Haliru.
Halilu is said to be a high-profile arms trafficker responsible for supply of arms to other terrorists gangs in Zamfara and Katsina States and is also known to usually operate around Sububu, Anka (Bayan Daji) and Bayan Ruwa axis in Zamfara.
He is also said to be one of the richest terrorist operating in Zamfara, responsible for several kidnappings for ransom, cattle rustling and other terrorist activities.
"The elimination of Halilu's gang members followed credible intelligence, which revealed that he (Halilu) had scheduled an early-morning meeting with some of his foot soldiers at his logistics base in Maradun Local Government Area of the State" the source said.
Sources said intelligence revealed the location and exact position of Halilu's logistic base, where he and his cohorts usually store their ammunition, vehicles, motorcycles, and other ill-gotten loots leading to precision strikes on the camp.
A senior officer in the North West said, "After days and weeks of sustained Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance missions over the 2 locations and verifying the intelligence to be credible, NAF aircraft were, in the early hours of 21 October 2022, scrambled to strike the location of the meeting and the logistics base.
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"Both locations were thus simultaneously struck in several passes. Specifically, a huge fireball was observed by the pilots after the strike on the logistics base, an indication that the location might have contained some inflammable substance.
"The Battle Damage Assessment revealed the meeting location and the logistic base to be destroyed. Feedback from locals also confirmed that several terrorists were eliminated as a result of the air strike on the meeting location, though it remains uncertain if Halilu was also killed in the strikes".
In a related development, NAF aircraft under the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai in Borno State eliminated scores of terrorists and destroyed their guntrucks in Tunbum Aliyu located in Southwest of Maiduguri.
Similarly, the Air Component also undertook air interdiction missions in terrorists' enclaves in Abulum and Njibul both near Sambisa Forest where several terrorists were eliminated while others were injured or seen scampering for safety.
NAF sources disclosed that the efforts of the Air Components of Operations Hadarin Daji and Hadin Kai in liaison with other security agencies remains on course.
"Until the remnants of the terrorists moving from one enclave to another after coming under intense fire are eliminated, the intensity of the fire power emanating from NAF and other security elements will continue unabated," the NAF officer said.
