The Defence Headquarters says the deaths of 10 civilians in Gidan Bisa and Gidan Ruutuwa in the Silame Local Government Area of Sokoto State resulted from secondary explosions and not direct military airstrikes.

The director of defence media operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba gave the clarification while briefing journalists on Friday in Abuja.

“The air strike indeed hit the logistic base of the terrorist, which led to secondary explosions, and it was these secondary explosions that led to some casualties that was earlier reported,” he said.

Describing the incident as a tragedy, Mr Buba sympathised with the victims’ families.

“But we must be reminded that our troops are very professional in their actions and are indeed turning the tide against the insurgents and terrorists,” he stated.

Mr Buba said the troops had, on December 25, in a coordinated joint operation conducted between the air and land components of Operation Fassan Yamma, destroyed Lakurawa terrorist groups in their hideouts in the area.

He said there was confirmed terrorist activities in the area before the operation through sustained intelligence, surveillance recognisance conducted for an extended period to confirm the presence of the terrorists hibernating there.

Mr Buba said pre-operational intelligence surveillance also confirmed terrorist activities within the general area.

“Thereafter, human intelligence was deployed, and their reports corroborated the intelligence surveillance and recognition findings, emphasising the strategic importance of neutralising the location.

“After confirmation, aircraft were dispatched to conduct precision air strikes on identified hideouts at about 0600 hours from that date.

“The strike was executed with precision-guided munitions to minimise collateral damage.

“The land component was tactically deployed at blocking positions around the target location to prevent the escape of the Lakurawa terrorist group, as well as to provide immediate post-strike assessment and follow-up actions.

“Following the air strikes, ground forces confirmed that the hideout was successfully neutralised with minimal damage observed in the surrounding villages.

“The ground forces interacted with the locals in the area, and they confirmed the presence of the terrorists in that general area.

“The ground forces also confirmed that the air strikes achieved its primary objective of neutralising the Lakurawa terrorist group’s hideouts,” he said.

Mr Buba said the neutralised Lakurawa terrorist combatants were bombed and burnt beyond recognition because they were hit directly by the strike.

He added that the military made sure it minimised civilian casualties in the strike, noting that it was well aware of the presence of the terrorists among the locals.

“In summary, I would say that troops targeted the terrorists and not innocent citizens,” he said.

(NAN)