A fighter jet belonging to the Nigerian Air Force have allegedly fired bomb at military base in Mainok, Borno state, killing some soldiers.
Military sources told TheCable that the air force “accidentally” hit the wrong coordinates while targeting Boko Haram insurgents who had attacked the troops on Sunday.
Edward Gabkwet, air force spokesman, told the news agency that the incident is being investigated when he was contacted on Monday.
The insurgents had attacked a military base in Mainok and reportedly overpowered the troops who called for reinforcement.
The truck which was sent for reinforcement was targeted and shelled by the air strike following a flawed intelligence, sources said.
One of the soldiers in the affected area told TheCable: “They (Boko Haram) came with heavy machines, about four MRAPS (mine-resistant ambush protected) vehicles and they overpowered the ground troops.
“Troops sent signals for air support and when they came, it missed the main coordinates; where the air force shelled their bomb was on the location of troops instead of that of Boko Haram.
“The aircraft had to turn back. They realised that they mistargeted (and) most of the soldiers started running inside the bush.”
Gabkwet told TheCable he also saw a video from the affected scene and that the air force is investigating the matter.
“All I can say is that the matter is being investigated. It is not a matter that we can just quickly give answers to,” the air force spokesman said during a phone interview.
Note: picture was used for illustrative purposes.
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