The Nigeria Air Force has announced that it has launched an offensive in the Lake Chad islands where terrorist elements belonging to a faction of Boko Haram are based. The target group is the ISWAP, a faction led by Al Barnawi. Widely known leader, Abubakar Shekau, is head of the other main faction. Preliminary reports indicate that ISWAP positions have been degraded and reports of the actual number of killed terrorists is yet to be released.
The offensive comes a week after the deadliest terrorist attack that killed over 100 soldiers in the town of Metele located in the northeastern Borno State, the birthplace of Boko Haram.
The Boko Haram insurgency affects four countries linked to the Lake Chad. Nigeria’s northeast, Cameroon’s Far North region as well as parts of Chad and Niger. There is a multinational task force coordinating to combat the insurgents.
