Boko Haram: Nigerian Air Force Launches Operation Forest Storm In N/East

The Nigerian Air Force on Tuesday opened a new vista in the fight against Boko Haram with the launch of a new operation code-named “Operation Forest Storm” in the North-East.
The operation is aimed at curtailing the outflow of Boko Haram insurgents from the northern parts of Borno to the South.

Briefing newsmen at the NAF base in Yola, Adamwa state, the Chief of Training and Operations at the Nigerian Air Force Headquarters, Abuja, Air Vice Marshal Ahmed Abdullahi Iya, said the special operation is expected to last for about seven days.
He said as part of the Operation of the NAF in Lafiya Dole, air surveillance conducted over the entire theater of Operations in the Northeast revealed some insurgents in the southern part of the Area of Operation and Forest Storm is specifically designed to take care of them.
Iya: “As part of our campaign against insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country, we have been focusing more on the north, nevertheless we conducted surveillance all over the Theater of Operations and we started noticing some insurgents in the south that is why we have launched a special operation to take care of that.
“The name of the operation is Operation Forest Storm and it is just for a few days, we are focusing mainly on interdiction, we have identified a specific target to take out through interdiction. From our calculations, it is not going to take more than three days but we are planning for seven days to take care of what we have seen”.
AVM Iya noted that since the campaign began, security has greatly improved in the northeast and the military operations have been able to degrade the ranks of the insurgents.
“We know things have improved from the nature of attacks, you no longer see them attacking in large convoys, most of them use motorcycles now”.
He assured that civilians have nothing to fear about the operation as the Air Force will ensure there is no collateral damage.
“We have conducted surveillance, selected our targets and analyzed very well before we decide on the attack, the mode and the type of weapon to use. All these are carefully planned and we do not foresee any collateral damage so there is no cause for alarm”, Iya said.