The Nigerian military has mistakenly killed and wounded children in an airstrike in neighbouring Niger, a local governor in Niger, state television and an aid agency said on Sunday.
The attack took place in the village of Nachadé in the region of Maradi, Niger, on Friday, a few kilometres from the border with Nigeria, said Chaibou Aboubacar, the governor of Maradi. He said seven children were killed and five wounded.
He did not say how he knew that Nigerian forces carried out the attack. Niger’s state television also said it was carried out by Nigerian forces, without providing evidence.
“As a matter of policy, the Nigerian Air Force does not make any incursions into areas outside Nigeria’s territorial boundaries. That’s our policy,” Major General Jimmy Akpor, Nigeria’s Director of Defence Information, said. He said an investigation was underway.
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, which cared for some of the wounded, confirmed the strike. It said that 12 people died, including four children. Local inhabitants told MSF that Nigerian forces were pursuing targets who had fled a border town.
The specific reason for the strike was not clear. It occurred in a region where banditry is common and where both governments fear that Islamist insurgents linked to Islamic State are gaining ground.
The governor of the Maradi region, Chaibou Aboubacar, confirmed the development to AFP on Sunday.
The Region of Maradi is one of seven Region of Niger. It is located in south-central Niger, east of the Region of Tahoua, west of Zinder, and north of the Nigerian city of Kano.
Speaking on the development, Aboubacar said:
“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.”
