Nigerian air force mistakenly bombs civilians - MP

Residents of a community in the north-west Nigerian state of Katsina say a Nigerian military jet has fired a missile on civilians while it was supposed to be targeting armed gangs.

At least one person was killed and more than a dozen others are being treated in a hospital, local MP Abduljalal Haruna Runka told the BBC.

The news comes a day after gunmen attacked the advance security team of President Muhammadu Buhari, who was due to travel to the state to celebrate the festival of Eid this weekend.

The Nigerian military has not yet commentated on the alleged attack on civilians.

But in an earlier statement it said its aircraft had attacked two camps where those it described as "terrorists"’ were hiding near some villages in the same area.

In recent years, there have been a number of cases of Nigerian military aircraft mistakenly hitting civilians during their operations against members of armed groups – who often hide in civilian areas.

The most infamous was the killing of more than 100 civilians and aid workers at a camp for displaced people near the border with Cameroon in 2017.

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