A Nigerian fighter jet targeting terrorists have mistakenly killed playing children in neighbouring Niger Republic, killing seven and injuring five others, AFP is reporting.
Chaibou Aboubacar, Governor of the Maradi region, which shares boundary with Nigeria’s Kano State, disclosed this on Sunday, February 20th 2022.
“There was a mistake with the Nigerian strikes on the border that resulted in victims on our territory in the village of Nachade.
“The victims are 12 children, seven of them dead and five wounded,” Governor Aboubacar said.
Four children died instantly and three others succumbed “to their injuries while being transported to hospital,” he said.
He added that “the parents were attending a ceremony and the children were probably playing when the strikes hit them.”
Aboubacar believes the planes were targeting “armed bandits” in the border areas, but “missed their target”, hitting Nachade instead.
He said that he visited the children’s graves on Saturday as well as the scene of the bombardment.