- Title: At least 76 people killed in air strike on Nigerian refugee camp - ICRC
- Date: 18th January 2017
- Summary: MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA (JANUARY 18, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** CHIEF OF STAFF AND MINISTER OF DEFENCE SHAKING HANDS WITH MILITARY PERSONNEL AFTER LANDING IN MAIDUGURI MILITARY CHIEFS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS HOLDING NEWS CONFERENCE MILITARY PERSONNEL PRAYING VARIOUS OF INJURED CHILDREN ON HOSPITAL BEDS MOTHER AND CHILD ON HOSPITAL BED, RED CROSS OFFICIAL STANDING IN BACKGROUND INJURED BABY SLEEPING ON BED INJURED CHILDREN VARIOUS OF VICTIMS OF AIR STRIKE ON HOSPITAL BEDS
- Embargoed: 1st February 2017 17:58
- Keywords: Nigeria air strike refugee camp Maiduguri
- Location: MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ZM0LS7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: At least 76 people were killed in Tuesday's accidental Nigerian Air Force strike on a refugee camp and more than 100 were wounded, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRC) said on Wednesday (January 18).
The air force has said an unknown number of civilians were killed and wounded in the mistaken strike in Rann, Borno state. The state has been the epicentre of Boko Haram's seven-year-long attempt to create an Islamic caliphate in the northeast.
The air force has said civilians were accidentally killed and wounded in the attack, which was aimed at the jihadist group, but neither it nor the government has provided an official figure for the number of casualties. Aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has said 52 were killed and 120 were wounded.
ICRC said six Nigeria Red Cross members were killed and 13 wounded. "In addition to aid staff, it is estimated that 70 people have been killed and more than a hundred wounded," it said in a statement.
Nigeria's Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, said "the accidental bombing is not a true reflection of the level of professionalism" he had witnessed in the air force.
The strike followed a stepped up military offensive against Boko Haram in the last few weeks.
The militant group's insurgency has killed more than 15,000 people since 2009 and forced some two million to flee their homes, many of whom have moved to camps for internally displaced people. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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