The Nigeria Air Force NAF has reportedly pounded Gwaska’s bandits camp with airstrikes killing not fewer than 43 high-profile terrorists and their foot soldiers in Katsina State.

According to the source, the sustained airstrikes which occurred on Sunday at Illela Community in Katsina saw several terrorists under the command of Gwaska Dankarami and Alhaji Abdulkarami neutralized.

The two notorious terrorist leaders were fingered in a series of attacks around Safana and Dan Musa Local Government Areas of Katsina State, the source also revealed.

Before the airstrikes, the NAF team was said to have destroyed the rocky cave at the outskirts of Ilela Village providing a shield to the terrorists after unleashing terror on citizens or communities.

An intelligence source who unraveled the attack on the hoodlums was quoted to have said:

“Upon receiving reports of incessant terrorists’ attacks on villages around Safana LGA, especially in Ilela Village, where about 12 persons were recently killed and others chased out of their villages, the air component of “Operation Hadarin Daji” deployed Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft to unravel the modus operandi of the terrorists.

“Footages by the ISR platform revealed significant terrorists’ activities in some rocky hills, about 1.5 Km Southwest of Ilela and South of Rubu Villages. Further scrutiny of the footage revealed armed terrorists on 19 motorcycles riding along multiple tracks leading into a cave within the rocky hills.

“Accordingly, the Air Component of OPHD dispatched a fighter jet and helicopter gunship in an air interdiction mission to exterminate and infuse maximum casualty on the bandits as well as destroy their enclaves.”

The source, a domestic intelligence operative working with locals disclosed that scores of terrorists were killed during the airstrikes.

“The aircraft engaged fleeing terrorists on motorcycles with bombs in rocky enclaves. At least 43 dead bodies of terrorists were counted within the vicinity including that of Alhaji Shingy, a brother of killed bandit leader Auta.

Responding to the development, the NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Edward Gabkwet was quoted to have said, “strikes against terrorist elements will continue for as long as they continue to pose threats to peace-loving Nigerians and with the level of coordination and cooperation among the services and other security agencies, Nigerians should not be surprised with the high level of successes being recorded through precision strikes aimed at eliminating key terrorists and their foot soldiers. We assure Nigerians of the commitment of the air and land components as well as other security agencies towards restoring normalcy in the Northwest and Northeast Regions.”