By Kingsley Omonobi, Abuja

Against the backdrop of the massacre of scores of people in Mubi and surrounding communities in Adamawa State a fortnight ago and violent clashes by communities in Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom States, the Nigerian Airforce is to establish new Forward Operations Bases in Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom States.

Nigerian Air Force helicopter

In Mubi, the Airforce will reactivate its Forward Operations Base which had been left dormant and underutilized for years.

Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, who made the disclosure at the end of the first quarter 10-Kilometers Route March exercise for officers of the NAF headquarters and formations in Abuja, yesterday, also disclosed that the NAF will establish an Annex for the Mobility Command in Akwa Ibom.

Meanwhile, NAF fighter aircraft, on Thursday, neutralized several Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) in the Sambisa general area.

According to a statement from NAF headquarters, “A NAF Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform had sighted several BHTs on vehicles and gun trucks, which were carefully concealed in a forested area.

“Consequently, three NAF fighter aircraft were detailed to provide Close Air Support to own surface forces, which also engaged the insurgents.

“The fighter aircraft launched a bomb attack on the insurgents’ defensive positions while another wave of bomb attacks was launched at the insurgents’ gun trucks and vehicles, causing one them to go up in flames”.