The Defence Headquarters has said that the death of 10 villagers in Sokoto State were not by an airstrike conducted by the Nigerian Air Force.
Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba who stated this while addressing journalists in Abuja, said the incident was caused by a secondary explosion at the Lakurawa terrorist logistics base.
He explained that the airstrike was a precision-guided operation targeting terrorists hideout in the area, noting that the fatalities resulted from the explosion triggered by the destruction of the terrorists’ logistics base.
Buba pointed that the terrorists’ logistics base housed dangerous materials, including hand cartridges and explosives, which detonated when struck by the Air Force’s precision munitions.
The DHQ spokesman added that intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and human intelligence were carried out over an extended period before the operation was conducted.
He said that the ground forces confirmed the destruction of the terrorists’ key infrastructure and the neutralisation of several combatants during the operation, adding that survivors from the group fled the area, leveraging their familiarity with the terrain.
While noting that the locals in the community also confirmed that the terrorists had been using the area as a staging ground for their operations, Buba assured that the military would continue its operations to dismantle terrorist networks with minimal harm to civilians and their communities.