{"id":31820,"date":"2023-12-05T15:51:06","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T15:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/nigerian-army-drone-strike-error-kills-civilians-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-12-05T15:51:06","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T15:51:06","slug":"nigerian-army-drone-strike-error-kills-civilians-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/nigerian-army-drone-strike-error-kills-civilians-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian army drone strike error kills civilians | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nKANO:
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An army drone strike accidentally hit a village in northwestern Nigeria killing dozens of civilians celebrating a Muslim festival, local authorities, the military and residents said on Monday.<\/p>\n

Nigeria’s armed forces often rely on air strikes in their battle against so-called bandit militias in the northwest and northeast of the country where jihadists have been waging a 14-year conflict.<\/p>\n

The army did not provide details or a death toll for the strike late Sunday in Tudun Biri village, Kaduna State, but residents said dozens were killed and wounded.<\/p>\n

Local officials also reported fatalities.<\/p>\n

“Muslim faithful observing Maulud were mistakenly killed and many others injured following a military drone attack targeting terrorists and bandits,” Kaduna State governor Uba Sani said, ordering an investigation.<\/p>\n

“We buried 85 people that were killed in the bomb attack,” said resident Idris Dahiru, whose relatives were among the dead.<\/p>\n

He said more than 60 injured people were being treated in hospital.<\/p>\n

“I was inside the house when the first bomb was dropped… We rushed to the scene to help those affected and then a second bomb was dropped,” he added.<\/p>\n

“My aunt, my brother’s wife and her six children, wives of my four brothers were among the dead. My elder brother’s family are all dead, except his infant child who survived.”<\/p>\n

Dozens of wounded<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dozens of wounded were taken to a teaching hospital in the state capital Kaduna, local state security commissioner Samuel Aruwan said following a meeting with army officials and community leaders.<\/p>\n

He said the attack left “several citizens dead and others injured” but did not provide a toll.<\/p>\n

According to the army, it was a routine mission against militants that “inadvertently affected members of the community,” he said.<\/p>\n

Resident Husseini Ibrahim told AFP<\/em> late on Monday: “I lost 13 members of my immediate family among the 85 that were killed.<\/p>\n

“They included my children and those of my brothers, seven boys and six girls. We buried the victims today.”<\/p>\n

Many of the victims were women and children, resident Hassan Ma’aruf told AFP<\/em> by telephone, sharing images he said showed the bodies.<\/p>\n

AFP<\/em> could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the images.<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a032 killed in suspected drone strike by Myanmar army on refugee camp<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

“We have so far identified 30 dead victims,” he said, speaking earlier on Monday.<\/p>\n

Militia gangs, known locally as bandits, have long terrorised parts of northwest Nigeria, operating from bases deep in forests and raiding villages to loot and kidnap residents for ransom.<\/p>\n

In the northeast, jihadists have been pushed back from the territory they held at the height of the conflict, though they continue to fight on.<\/p>\n

More than 40,000 people have been killed and two million displaced since 2009.<\/p>\n

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made tackling insecurity a priority since coming to office in May, as he seeks to encourage foreign investment in Africa’s most populous country.<\/p>\n

Nigerian military bombing raids have caused civilian casualties in the past.<\/p>\n

At least 20 fishermen were killed and several injured in a September 2021 attack in Kwatar Daban Masara on Lake Chad in the northeast, when the military mistook them for militants.<\/p>\n

In January 2017, at least 112 people were killed when a fighter jet struck a camp housing 40,000 people displaced by jihadist violence in the town of Rann near the border with Cameroon.<\/p>\n

The Nigerian military blamed “lack of appropriate marking of the area” in a report issued six months later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n