By Gift Samuel, The Sight News
The Nigerian Air Force(NAF), through Human Intelligence have reported that Mallama Fitdasi, wife of Shekau the leader of the Boko Haram Terrorists (BHT) Organization,appeared to have been killed in recent successful airstrikes on DURWAWA settlement on the outskirts of URGA, near KONDUGA.
According to a statement put out by the NAF on Wednesday, Mallama Fitdasi was reported to have been representing her husband in a coordinating meeting with other terrorists at the location of the airstrikes.
Although efforts are ongoing to confirm the reported killing of Shekau’s wife, alongside other BHTs, it is recalled that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) had reported the successful aerial attack of a large number of BHTs at DURWAWA on 19 October 2017.
Battle Damage Assessment had indeed revealed that the aerial attack set off a fire, causing damage to the BHT structures within the settlement and neutralized most of the BHTs with a few of them fleeing the location.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has commenced Operation RUWAN WUTA II, as part of efforts to further decimate the ability of the Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) to freely operate in the country.
According to the NAF’s Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Adesanya Olatokunbo, the Operation, which commenced on 23 October 2017, is essentially an intensive day and night aerial bombardment that is designed to rain significant fire on freshly discovered hideouts of the BHTs.
He disclosed that on the first day of the operation, the NAF conducted several Air Interdiction missions in the Northeast, including one on a location in Garin Maloma, adding that previous intelligence reports, gathered through Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions by NAF ISR platforms had revealed the presence of a large number of BHTs in some dispersed structures in Garin Maloma.
The DOPRI said, “Consequently, the location was attacked, in succession, by two Alpha Jet aircraft. The first Alpha Jet aircraft attacked the settlement with bombs, which destroyed the targeted structures and caused fire around the structures where the BHTs were hiding, sending a few survivors scampering for safety.
“The second Alpha Jet aircraft, which strafed the area with rockets, subsequently took out some of the fleeing BHT survivors. Similarly, BHT locations in places such as Arra and Boboshe, amongst others, were successfully attacked by the NAF Mi-17 helicopter and the newly acquired Mi-35M helicopter” he noted.
