Nigerian airstrikes kill scores of militants in Borno, military says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A Nigerian Air Force A-29 Super Tucano aircraft pilot fires two .50-caliber machine guns at a target at the Grand Bay Bombing and Gunnery Range near Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, Sept. 1, 2021. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Rebeckah Medeiros via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service - DVIDS)

By Camillus Eboh

ABUJA, Jan 19  -  Nigerian air force strikes destroyed about 10 canoes and killed more than 40 militants preparing attacks in Borno state, the military said late on Sunday, in the latest in a series of operations targeting groups around Lake Chad.

Borno, where fighters from militant groups Boko Haram and ISWAP have recently intensified attacks on military convoys and civilians, remains the epicentre of the 17-year Islamist insurgency in the northeast of the country.

Air force spokesperson Ehimen Ejodame said airstrikes on January 15 and 16 in the Musarram and Azir communities signalled renewed military pressure on insurgents who still use the region's rugged terrain to launch raids on troops and nearby communities.

The air force said it hit militants in Musarram on Thursday after intelligence showed they were massing in canoes to attack Baga town and the fish dam area of Lake Chad. 

Three bombing runs broke up the group, with fleeing gunmen tracked into nearby trees and neutralised, Ejodame said in a statement. 

Troops and local officials reported the airstrikes foiled the planned attack.

On Friday in Azir, close-air-support aircraft struck terrorists retreating from an earlier clash and regrouping under trees, killing several and restoring order, Ejodame said.

 (Reporting by Camillus Eboh in Abuja; Writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo; Editing by Sharon Singleton // REUTERS)