From Victor Osula, Abuja
Gen Oluyede, COAS
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) reiterated that its airstrike in Sokoto, targeted and struck the Lakurawa terrorist group and its logistics base, leading to a secondary explosion that killed ten villagers residing in Gidan Sama and Rumtuwa communities in the Silame local government area of Sokoto state.
Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, who stated this on Friday, said the airstrikes were indeed targeted at the Lakurawa terrorist group and their logistics base, but unfortunately, a secondary explosion occurred, which led to the loss of lives of the villagers.
“The air strike indeed hit the logistic base of the terrorist which led to secondary explosions and it was these secondary explosions that led to some casualties that were earlier reported”, he said.
He explained that before the operation on December 25, 2024, there were confirmed and heightened terrorist activities in the area.
According to him, sustained intelligence, surveillance, and recognition were conducted for an extended period to confirm the presence of the terrorists hibernating there and to also make sure that those in that location were indeed terrorists.
He added that because of the painstaking measures, the operation which should have taken place on an earlier date, had to be rescheduled to December 25, when that operation was conducted.
General Buba said the operation was planned as a joint effort to leverage the air component’s precision strike capability and the land component’s ability to have the boots on the ground.
He explained further that “the operation started with pre-operational intelligence, surveillance, and recognition missions to confirm the terrorist activities within the general area.
“Thereafter, human intelligence was deployed and their reports corroborated the intelligence, surveillance and recognition findings, emphasising the strategic importance of neutralising the location.
“Having confirmed, aircraft were dispatched to conduct precision air strikes on the identified hideouts at about 0600 hours on that day.
“The strike was executed with precision-guided munitions to minimise collateral damage. The land component was tactically deployed at blocking positions around the target location to prevent the escape of the Lakurawa terrorist groups, as well as to provide immediate post-strike assessment and follow-up actions. Following the air strikes, ground forces moved into the area to assess the strike’s impact.
“The ground forces confirmed that the hideout was successfully neutralised with minimal damage observed in the surrounding villages. The ground forces interacted with the locals in the area and confirmed the presence of the Lakurawa terrorists in that general area.
“The ground forces also confirmed that the air strikes achieved its primary objective of neutralising the Lakurawa terrorist group’s hideout.”
