THE Nigerian Air Force says its ultimate aspiration is the total decimation of Boko Haram terrorists in the North East of the country.
Air Commodore Dayo Amao, Commander, 75 Strike Group, Air Force Headquarters gave the pledge in Yola when he spoke with newsmen on a guided tour of territories captured from Boko Haram insurgents.
“Total victory and nothing short of it is our ultimate aspiration.
“The air component will press forward in providing adequate support to the ground forces as they advance against insurgents in the North East’’, he said.
Amao disclosed that the air force had flown over 1,600 sorties in aid of ground troops since the war against the terrorists began.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that sortie is a mission by a combat aircraft.
The commander explained that the sorties were either for intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, air transport, close air support for ground troops, and interdiction (to prevent enemy from entering a location).
“The efforts of the Nigerian Air Force have been pivotal in the recent successes achieved in the fight against the insurgents.
“We soften the ground for the ground force to move and occupy the territory’’, he said.
According to him, we try to avoid collateral damage.
“That is why we make maximum use of our Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission -, to be sure that only Boko Haram locations are attacked’’, he said.