The newly acquired Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Mi-35M helicopter gunships have successfully unleashed their firepower on boko haram Terrorists at a camp, 9.7km South East of Bonne in the on-going OPERATION THUNDER STRIKE. The Director Public Relations and Information, NAF Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya noted that an earlier Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance report had indicated the significant presence of terrorists in the camp, following which Mi-35M helicopter gunships were deployed to attack them on 15 May 2018.
Adesanya said on approaching the target, the Mi-35M helicopter gunships successfully launched rocket and cannon attacks on the camp, in rapid succession.
He stressed that the footage of the attack, as captured by the helicopter’s airborne camera system, indicated the destruction of the targets as the structures within the BHT camp were engulfed in fire while all the terrorists within the camp were also neutralised.
However, it would be recalled that the NAF took delivery of the second batch of 2 brand new Mi-35M helicopters on 30 April 2018, following which the helicopters were unveiled during the NAF’s 54th Anniversary celebrations in Kaduna and later deployed for operations.
