Nigeria air attack reportedly kills children in Niger

The attack took place in the village of Nachade in the region of Maradi, Niger, on Friday, a few kilometres from the border with Nigeria, said Chaibou Aboubacar, the governor of Maradi, AlJazeera reported.

“There was a mistake with the Nigerian strikes on the border that resulted in victims on our territory in the village of Nachade,” said the official.

“The victims are 12 children, seven of them dead and five wounded.”

According to the governor, “the parents were attending a ceremony and the children were probably playing when the strikes” hit them.

Four children died instantly and three others succumbed “to their injuries while being transported to the hospital”, he said.

He did not say how he knew that Nigerian forces carried out the attack. Niger’s state television also said it was carried out by Nigerian forces, without providing evidence.

ZZ/PR