SAN FRANCISCO, January 17, (THEWILL)- The Army said an Air Force fighter jet on a mission to take out Boko Haram militants mistakenly bombed a refugee camp, killing some humanitarian aid workers of the International Committee of Red Cross, ICRC, and the Medicines Sans Frontiers, MSF, and some civilians in Kala Balge in Borno.
Media reports say at least 50 persons have been killed and over 100 wounded.
The Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor, on Tuesday in Maiduguri, said, “This morning, we received a report about the gathering of Boko Haram terrorists around Kala Balge area of Maiduguri.
“I coordinated and I directed that the air component of the operation should go and address the problem.”
“Unfortunately, the strike was conducted but it turned out that other civilians were somewhere around the area and they were affected.”
“So far, it is a little bit disturbing; death has occurred. There are casualties; there were deaths and injuries but on the actual number of casualties, we would get back to you later.”
“I am yet to get the number of casualties of civilians killed, but two soldiers were also affected.”
“Some humanitarian staff of Medicines Sans Frontiers and some staff of International Committee of Red Cross were also affected.”
“We are sending helicopters to evacuate those that were critically wounded, including our wounded soldiers.”
The Red Cross in a statement said it is deeply concerned about the reported casualties among civilians and humanitarian workers.
“We are in contact with the relevant authorities to organise medical assistance and evacuations, and also to get more information on the situation in Rann,” the release by Sadiq Umar, Information Officer, ICRC, Borno Office, said.
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