According to the local governor, the incident took place in the village of Nachade in the district of Maradi and resulted in the deaths of five people.
Nigerian armed forces launched an airstrike in neighboring Niger that resulted in the deaths and injuries of children, according to a local governor in Niger, state television, and an aid group.
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In Niger, the incident took place on Friday in the town of Nachade in the district of Maradi. The village is just a few kilometers from the Nigerian border, according to Chaibou Aboubacar, the governor of the Maradi region.
In the case of the Nigerian border attacks, "there was a misunderstanding that led in victims on our territory in the village of Nachade," the source explained.
"There are 12 youngsters among the casualties, seven of whom died and five of whom were injured."
In the words of the governor, "the parents were attending a ceremony, and the children were most likely playing when the strikes" hit them and killed them.
He claimed four children died quickly and three others died "as a result of their injuries while being transferred to the hospital," according to him.
He did not elaborate on how he came to know that Nigerian military were responsible for the attack. Niger's official media also claimed that it was carried out by Nigerian soldiers, but did not provide any proof to support this claim.
Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF), a medical humanitarian organization that provided care for some of the injured, verified the strike. It was reported that 12 individuals perished, including four children, according to the report. MSF received information from local residents that Nigerian military were hunting individuals who had left a border village.
In accordance with its policy, the Nigerian Air Force does not conduct any operations outside of Nigeria's national limits. Major General Jimmy Akpor, Nigeria's director of defence information, stated that this is the country's policy. He stated that an investigation was now underway.
Even though it was not immediately obvious what had prompted the strike, banditry is well-known to be rampant in the region.
In April 2021, the International Crisis Group (ICG), headquartered in Brussels, expressed concern that a third center for hardliner armed groups may arise in this part of Maradi, leveraging the operations of Nigerian gangs and tensions amongst local populations to further their agenda.
Niger is already confronted with hardliner fronts. Activists from the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram and its dissident offshoot, the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP), are based in the southeast, while groups associated with ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda are active in the western hemisphere.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Maradi is home to more than 100,000 Nigerian refugees who have fled the continuous onslaught in their own country to seek sanctuary in the city.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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