BREAKING: Military jet mistakenly drops bomb on IDP camp
A military jet has mistakenly dropped a bomb inside the Rann IDP camp in Borno state leading to the death of about people with 120 injured.
According to Premium Times, those who were injured had to be evacuated to hospitals for treatment.
The Rann IDP camp is located in Kala-balge local government area and it caters for thousands of persons displaced by Boko Haram.
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Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar who is the spokesperson of the army confirmed the tragic incident and said the military deeply regretted the error.
He said the military got intelligence report of Boko Haram and deployed ground and air troops and that it was the air troop that mistakenly dropped bomb on the IDP camp.
The Borno state government has sent a message to all hospitals in Maiduguri to be prepared to receive and treat injured people.
A helicopter belonging to the International Red Cross was deployed to the camp to evacuate the injured.
Lucky Irabor who is the theatre commander of the armed force in Borno also confirmed the incident.
He said: “This morning today, we received reports about gathering of Boko Haram terrorists somewhere in Kala Balge Local Government area of Borno State. We got a coordinate and I directed that the air should go to address the problem.
“Unfortunately the strike was conducted but it turned out that the locals somewhere in Rann were affected.
“We are yet to get the details of the casualties. But we have some civilians that have been killed, others are wounded and we also have two of our soldiers that were also wounded. Among some that are wounded are local staffs of the Medicine Sans Frontiers as well as ICRC.”
According to PM News, Irabor added that the two soldiers who were injured have also been evacuated for treatment.
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“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(ICRC) were also affected.
“We are sending helicopters to evacuate those that were critically wounded, including our wounded soldiers."
According to International Business Times, 20 aid workers especially from the Red Cross were also killed while a source from Borno put the death toll at 120.
Source: Legit.ng