The Nigerian air drive mentioned on Thursday it could have killed and injured civilians whereas pursuing suspected Islamist insurgents within the northeast state of Yobe, in an incident that residents mentioned left at the least six folks useless.
Nigeria’s northeast is the hotbed of two Islamist insurgencies: Boko Haram and Islamic State’s West African (ISWAP) department, which cut up from the previous group in 2016.
An air drive spokesman mentioned a fighter jet responded to intelligence on suspicious actions of suspected insurgents from both the Boko Haram group or ISWAP on Wednesday and fired “some probing shots”, killing and injuring civilians within the course of.
Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet didn’t specify numbers.
“Unfortunately reports reaching Nigerian Air Force headquarters alleged that some civilians were erroneously killed while others were injured,” he mentioned in a press release.
“Therefore a board of inquiry has been set up to thoroughly investigate the circumstances of the incident.”
Three residents in Yobe’s Yunasari native authorities space instructed Reuters that the air drive jet had flown over the village on Wednesday morning earlier than there have been explosions
“We saw it hovering around the village and suddenly we heard two loud bangs,” resident Ibrahim Goni instructed Reuters by cellphone.
One resident mentioned he had misplaced 4 of his kin whereas one other mentioned his mom and niece had died within the incident.
At least 45 folks had been and have been taken to Gaidam General Hospital in Yobe, the three residents mentioned.
Nigeria’s battle with Boko Haram and ISWAP has spawned one of many world’s worst humanitarian crises, with hundreds of thousands of individuals depending on assist.
