Kaduna Bombing: Terrorists deliberately embed within civilian population – Defence HQ

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) of the Nigerian military, on Tuesday, reacted to the accident of the air strike by the Nigerian Army at Tudun Birni, Igabi Local Government Area, Kaduna State, noting that terrorists often deliberately embed themselves within civilian population centres.

The Director of Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, in a statement on Tuesday disclosed that the army unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) detachment detected the movement of terrorists at Ligarma, an area known for being a haven of terrorists.

According to Buba, “It should be noted that terrorists often deliberately embed themselves within civilian population centres for the civilian population to bear the consequences of their atrocities.

“Nevertheless, the Nigerian military does its best at all times to distinguish between civilians and terrorists.

“The military views every civilian death in the cause of operations as a tragedy as such tragedies are needless and unwanted, which causes the armed forces to take extensive measures to avoid them.

“For instance, communities are to always alert troops of their activities, particularly, when such a community is known to be infested with terrorists and their sympathisers.

“These instructions are intended at enabling the military to distinguish between friendly and untoward activities.”
While the Nigerian Air Force dissociated itself from the incident, the Nigerian Army accepted responsibility, indicating that its troops were on a routine mission against terrorists when the “mistake” occurred.

It was indicated that 85 people died while many others were injured in the bombing.