- "A Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Helicopter was lost in combat while providing close air support to troops of 145 Battalion at Damasak in Northern Borno State. The mission was part of the ongoing counterinsurgency operations in the North East. The incident, occurred about 7:45 pm today, 2 January 2019."
The news of the crash was disclosed by Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, Director of Public Relations and Information Headquarters of the Nigerian Air Force.
According to Daramola, the helicopter was providing air support to troops of 145 battalion at Damasak in northern Borno.
The incident occurred around 7:45pm. However, details of the incident were still sketchy at the time of filing this report.
The tweet read: "A Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Helicopter was lost in combat while providing close air support to troops of 145 Battalion at Damasak in Northern Borno State. The mission was part of the ongoing counterinsurgency operations in the North East.
"The incident, occurred about 7:45 pm today, 2 January 2019. Details of the cause of the crash are still scanty. As soon as the details of the crash are known, they will be made available to the public."
Hours earlier, Daramola had announced that the Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE destroyed a building being used as meeting venue by Boko Haram insurgents near Baga, also in Borno.
“The attack was conducted on January 1, 2019, after series of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions confirmed that the building was being used as an assembly point by the terrorists. Consequently, the ATF dispatched a NAF Alpha Jet aircraft to attack the building,” he had said, adding that a “direct hit was recorded on the target leading to significant damage to the structure and neutralisation of the occupants”.
