(The independent) A Nigerian military jet has mistakenly bombed a refugee camp, killing more than 100 people, a government official has said.
The incident took place in Borno state in northeastern Nigeria, where the military has been waging a military campaign against the Boko Haram militant group.
The strike took place on Tuesday morning in Rann, part of the Kala-Balge local government area on the Cameroon border. Regional military commander General Lucky Irabor told the Reuters news agency he did not know how many people were killed.
“Many civilians including personnel of International Committee of the Red Cross and Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) were wounded,” he said.
A spokeswoman for MSF told The Independent the organisation was indeed active in the Kala Balge area but was unable to verify whether its employees were among the victims.
She said MSF teams had seen 50 dead and 120 wounded as of Tuesday afternoon.
“Teams are trying to provide emergency first aid in its facility and are stabilising patients to evacuate wounded,” she said.
“We are asking the authorities to put all measures in place in order to facilitate the emergency evacuation of the wounded. Our medical and surgical teams in Cameroon and Chad are ready to treat wounded patients.”
