Some soldiers have cried out after their colleagues were killed after a fighter jet belonging to the Nigerian Air Force reportedly fired a bomb on ground troops in Mainok, Borno state.
According to sources, the air force “accidentally” hit the wrong coordinates while targeting Boko Haram insurgents who had attacked the troops on Sunday.
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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 because they were already dislodged.”
Meanwhile, in a tweet released on Monday, NAF said the general public will be duly updated after it concludes its investigation on the incident.
“The attention of the @NigAirForce has been drawn to reports alleging “How NAF Killed over 20 Nigerian Army Personnel by Accident in Air Strike,” at Mainok which is about 55klm to Maiduguri.
”The NAF wishes to state that visuals and reports being circulated are being investigated and the generally public will be duly updated on the alleged incident”
