0
0
A Nigerian fighter jet has bombed Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDP) Camp at Rann in Kala Balge area of Borno in what the Nigerian Airforce later described as accidental bombing. Not fewer than 52 people are reported dead with over 120 injured in what was described as accidental air strike.
Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, confirming the unfortunate incidents said on Tuesday in Maiduguri:
“So far, it is a little bit disturbing; death has occurred. There are casualties; there were deaths and injuries.
“But on the actual number of casualties, we would get back to you later. I am yet to get the number of casualties of civilians killed, but two soldiers were also affected,’’
The shots hit the Medicines Sans Frontiers and some civilians in Kala Balge in Borno state in northeast during an operation.
“This morning, we received a report about the gathering of Boko Haram terrorists around Kala Balge area of Maiduguri.
“I coordinated and I directed that the air component of the operation should go and address the problem.
“Unfortunately, the strike was conducted but it turned out that other civilians were somewhere around the area and they were affected.’’
Adding further that some humanitarian staff of Medicines Sans Frontiers and some staff of International Committee of Red Cross(ICRC) were also part of the victim.
“We are sending helicopters to evacuate those that were critically wounded, including our wounded soldiers,” he concluded.
The Nigerian Air Force also confirming described it as accidental air strike in the following statement on Instagram:
“The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is saddened by today’s accidental air strike by its fighter jet at Rann in Kala Balge area of Borno State in which some innocent lives were lost… The loss occasioned by this unfortunate incident is deeply regretted. The NAF commiserates with those affected and their families and would update the public as soon as detailed facts emerge from the investigation.”
Also in a swift reaction, President Muhammadu Buhari expressed regret over the accident, describing it as a“regrettable operational mistake.”
Average Rating