No fewer than seven children have been reported killed and five others hurt in Niger in an airstrike by the Nigerian army targeting bandits.
The governor of Niger’s Maradi region, Governor Chaibou Aboubacar, disclosed this to AFP.
The apparently accidental strike was also reported by state media.
According to Governor Aboubacar, four were killed instantly and three died on their way to hospital. State TV said the attack happened in Nachade village.
Nigerian officials said an investigation had begun.
Mr Aboubacar said the victims’ parents were attending a ceremony and “the children were probably playing” when the airstrikes hit them.
He said he believed the planes were targeting “armed bandits” in areas around the border between the two countries but missed their target and hit Nachade, a village in the area of Madarounfa.
Niger and Nigeria have been conducting joint military operations against bandits who have been kidnapping and killing people in the region.
26 children aged five and six had also died three months ago following a fire incident at a school in Maradi city.