More than 50 aid workers and civilians were killed on Tuesday when an air force jet accidentally bombed a camp in northeast Nigeria instead of the Boko Haram militants.
Medical charity MSF said the incident happened in Rann, in the far north of Borno state, as food was being distributed to displaced people.
The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said “at least 120 people were wounded and 52 killed following the bombing”, calling the attack “shocking and unacceptable.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross said six Nigerian Red Cross members were among those killed while 13 others were injured.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari in a statement he said. “i received with regret” news of the bombing and said he sympathised with the families of the dead and injured.
The bombing comes as Nigeria’s military claims further gains against the Islamic State group affiliate, pushing them out of captured territory and their remote bases in Borno.
Last month, the army said the conflict was in its final stages after nearly eight years of violence that has killed at least 20,000 and left more than 2.6 million others homeless.
PRESIDENT BUHARI REGRETS ACCIDENTAL BOMBING IN BORNO, CONDOLES WITH FAMILIES OF THE DEAD
President Muhammadu Buhari has received with deep sadness and regret, the accidental bombing of a civilian community in Rann, Borno State, by the Nigerian Air Force, engaged in the final phase of mopping up insurgents in the North-east.
President Buhari condoles with families of the dead, wishes the wounded divine succour, leading to full recovery, and sympathizes with the Borno State government.
The President pledges federal help for the state government in attending to “this regrettable operational mistake,” and pleads for calm, even as he prays God to grant repose to the souls of the dead.
FEMI ADESINA
Special Adviser to the President
(Media and Publicity)
January 17, 2017
