The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has neutralized 32 Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgents in precise airstrikes following a deadly attack on Banki, Bama Local Government Area, on September 18, which claimed the lives of two soldiers and a nine-year-old boy, Ismail Abubakar.
The assault, launched at approximately 10:15 p.m., targeted Bula Yobe Forward Operating Base (FOB), 152 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, and the Divisional Police Headquarters. “Two soldiers and a nine-year-old boy were killed during the assault, while three military vehicles were set ablaze by the terrorists,” sources confirmed.
In response, the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai deployed an Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform, Grey Raptor, to track the insurgents as they fled northwards. “Guided by the ISR feed, two A-29 Super Tucano aircraft carried out three successive air interdiction passes, engaging terrorists moving along a track and others gathered at two separate assembly points with logistics,” a military source reported.
The strikes eliminated over 25 insurgents at the assembly points and others on the move, totaling 32 neutralized.
The bodies of the fallen soldiers were evacuated to the Headquarters of Operation Hadin Kai in Maiduguri, while “the body of the minor was released to relatives for burial in line with Islamic rites,” sources added.
To restore stability, additional reinforcements have been deployed to Banki and surrounding areas.