The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) of the Nigerian Army has again spoken out on the Christmas Day air strikes by the Nigeria Air Force on Lakurawa terrorists camps at Gidan Bisa and Gidan Runtuwa in Silame Local Government Area of Sokoto State, where 10 villagers were killed.
Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj-Gen. Edward Buba, who addressed a press conference in Abuja on Saturday, attributed the death of the villagers to explosions triggered by the destruction of Lakurawa terrorists’ base and not a direct airstrikes conducted by the NAF jet.
Buba said contrary to widespread condemnation of the incident, the Air Force strikes were precision-guided operation targeting the terrorist hideout in the area and not at the villages.
He added that the fatalities recorded were from the secondary explosion that occurred when the terrorists’ logistics base which housed dangerous materials, including hand cartridges and explosives, detonated when it was struck by the Air Force’s precision munitions.
This is coming after the Nigerian military had earlier denied that any civilian died from the impact of the air strike, even after the local and state governments insisted that there were civilian casualties from the bombing.
Buba said, “The Armed Forces of Nigeria has a duty to defend citizens from terrorists either through peaceful means, or the force of arms,” the Army spokesman said.
“It is in discharge of this responsibility that on 25 Dec 2024, a coordinated joint operation was conducted between the Air Component and the Land Component of Operation Fansan Yamma to destroy Lakurawas Terrorists Group (LTG) hideouts at Gidan Bisa and Gidan Runtuwa in Jirikon Forest in Silame LGA of Sokoto State. Prior to the operation, there was heightened terrorists activities in the area.
“The military conducted sustained Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions for over extended periods to painstakingly confirm that those hibernating in the area were Lakurawa terrorists.
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“Significantly, the operation was rescheduled from an earlier date to 25 Dec 24 in order to allow for further confirmation using Human Intelligence.
“The joint operation was planned such that, the Air Component’s precision strike capability was complimented by the Land Component’s boots on the ground.
“Pre-operation ISR missions confirmed significant terrorists activities within the general area. HUMINT reports equally corroborated the ISR findings, emphasizing the strategic importance of neutralizing the location.
“Subsequently, aircrafts conducted a precision airstrike on the identified hideouts at about 0600hrs.
“The strike was executed with precision-guided munitions to minimize collateral damage. The Land Component deployed at blocking positions around the target location to prevent the escape of Lakurawas terrorist.
“They also provided immediate post-strike assessment and follow-up actions. Following the airstrike, ground forces moved into the area to assess the strike’s impact. The ground forces confirmed that the hideout was successfully neutralized, with minimal damage observed in the surrounding village.
“The ground forces interacted with the locals in area who confirmed presence of the Lakurawas terrorist in the general area. The airstrike achieved its primary objective of neutralizing the Lakurawa terrorists in the concentration area.
“The destruction of key infrastructure used by the terrorist including arms cache and logistics dumps confirmed strike’s effectiveness.
“ISR and HUMINT reports prior to the operation consistently indicated the hideout was a high-concentration terrorist location. Overall, troops will continue to take painstaking measures to avoid civilian casualties. All civilians casualties are viewed as a needless tragedy. Nevertheless, we will not relent in targeting and dislodging terrorist across our nation,” he added.
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