MARADI, Niger
An airstrike by the Nigerian army targeting ‘bandits’ has left seven children dead and five others wounded “by mistake” in the Maradi region of southern Niger, a local governor told AFP on Sunday.
"There was a mistake with the Nigerian strikes on the border that resulted in victims on our territory in the village of Nachade” on Friday, said Chaibou Aboubacar, governor of the Maradi region, close to Nigeria.
"The victims are 12 children, seven of them dead and five wounded.”
Four children died instantly and three others succumbed “to their injuries while being transported to hospital”, he said.According to the governor, “the parents were attending a ceremony and the children were probably playing when the strikes” hit them.
He believes the planes were targeting “armed bandits” in the border areas, but “missed their target” hitting Nachade instead.
Aboubacar said he visited the children’s graves on Saturday as well as the scene of the bombardment.
Several municipalities in the Maradi region are seriously affected by the violence of heavily armed gangs from the Nigerian states of neighbouring Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara.
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