Nigerian state confirms bombing of 6 children by Air Force fighter jet

By Ibrahim Garba Shuaibu

KANO, Nigeria (AA) - Nigeria’s north-central state of Niger has confirmed the accidental killing of six children by a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jet in a local community.

The Secretary to the Niger State government, Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, confirmed the incident to Anadolu Agency on Thursday, adding the children were killed during an air raid on terrorists.

“Yes, it occurred. The government is looking into the incident and an investigation is ongoing to ascertain what happened,” he said.

Speaking earlier to reporters in the state’s capital, Minna, Salis Sambo, the spokesman of the Coalition of Shiroro Associations (COSA), accused the NAF of killing six children and bombing houses in Kurebe in the Shiroro Local Government Area.

Sambo said the strikes occurred on April 13.

He said the children were killed when the fighter jet tried to bomb some terrorists who ran into the community for safety.

Sambo said the children were returning home after they had gone to fetch water, adding four of the children were members of the same family.

In February, military airstrikes killed 12 people in a town bordering the Republic of Niger.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders, or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which cared for some of the wounded, confirmed the strike.

It said that four children were among the dead. Local inhabitants told MSF that Nigerian forces were pursuing targets who had fled a border town.