Thread by @DefenseNigeria

Carpet bombing. It has to be done. The NAF should drop 10,000 tons of bombs on the forests and surrounding mountains to strip bare forests used as enclaves by ISWAP and bandits.

Many who espouse sending troops into the jungle to take the war to the enemy into unfamiliar terrain are sending soldiers to their graves.

These soldiers will be easy targets for guerrilla attacks as the insurgents/bandits are far more at home in the jungle than Nigerian troops. Special Forces troops in small tactical units are best suited for such operations.

Helicopters can be used in follow on operations to search for and destroy guerrilla combatants.

PR. We need the affected communities on our side. That means treating them with respect, sometimes even helping them with rehabilitation. The ridiculous amount of money we spent

..rehabilitating "repentant" terrorists can provide adequate housing and support for countless communities affected by the war. When you have ISWAP providing food and social services, what you see is what you get. Unlike Boko Haram, ISWAP terrorists aint all stupid.

They brainwash the communities Nigerian troops are the enemy. A fear reinforced by the mobid fear Nigerian civilians have for the army. The sight of Nigerian troops should be a thing and of joy and relief, not terror and trepidation. This has to change.

Also we should adopt the strategy of relentless pursuit employed South African mercenary led by Eaben Barlow. Raiding enemy camps, attacking the enemy when they are tired and pursuing the enemy when they retreat. Most of these insurgents are on hard drugs like weed,

..codeine, Tramadol,..you name it. The high andrenaline rush and feeling of invincibility eventually wears off. This is when Barlow and his men struck, denying them rest.

We must not forget the hybrid nature of this war. Our fearsome heavy artillery

..are off little utility, unless caught in the open. The enemy is conscious of this dynamics and pick battles where they would win. This means close proximity to civilians as human shield to deter airstrikes and artillery bombardment. When they are on the losing side and

..begin to haemorrhage fighters and equipment, their human shield become legitimate targets, and they make sure these attacks are filmed.

In a tactical battlefield context killing civilians have no strategic value. But it doesnt matter to them.

The outrage, sense of helplessness and superlative sensationalism follows the killing and kidnapping of innocent civilians gives the insurgents enormous propaganda value. It matters not if they are losing. As far as Nigerians are concerned the insurgents are winning.

And when things get too tough there exists for them several means to escape back into the jungle. The cells they work in are often very small so that if captured, they could not be tortured for information.

Nigerians do not understand the size and scale of these forests.

When the Bring Back our girls campaign chief Oby Ezekwesili derided the Nigerian army for failing to rescue the girls from "a common forest" (yes thats the exact term she used) and went on CNN, the Nigerian Air Force invited her to witness an ISR operation of the Sambisa

she and her team were flown over the Sambisa forest in a King Air 350i aircaft in an ISR mission. She qas speechless. It took almost 40 minutes to cover the lenght of the Sambisa forest. At 66,000 square kilometres it is an area 12 times the size of Lagos.

The forests of Kaduna and other areas in Borno and Maiduguri is so thick the best time to carry out ISR missions is mostly at night where thermal imaging cameras can identify the body heat emmited by humans. Its an entirely different world out there.

Nigerians will find it hard to believe the sheer scale and what these insurgents do in the forest. They have schools, training camps, get bethrothed, get married, wedding ceremonies, raise families...its crazy.