Abuja - At least 52 people were killed and 120 wounded after a
Nigerian military airstrike on a refugee camp in the country's
north-east, aid organization Doctors without Borders (MSF) said
Tuesday.
"This large-scale attack on vulnerable people who have already fled
from extreme violence is shocking and unacceptable," MSF's director
of operations, Jean-Clement Cabrol, said in a statement.
MSF said its staff was trying to provide first aid and evacuate the
wounded from the camp, located in Rann near the Cameroon border.
Major General Lucky Irabor confirmed that a strike took place,
telling reporters that "dozens" of civilians were feared dead
following an air raid that targeted terrorist group Boko Haram.
Irabor said two aid workers from the Red Cross and MSF and two
soldiers were among those injured in the strike, adding that the
military had not yet ascertained how many were killed.
While saying that the military would investigate, Irabor added that
"it is too early for us to determine whether it was an error or not."
MSF called on the authorities to take the necessary steps to
facilitate medical evacuations by air or road for those in need of
emergency care.
Medical and surgical teams in Cameroon and Chad are ready to treat
wounded patients, MSF added.
Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram has launched offensives in
Nigeria, as well as in neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon. The
group's goal is to enforce a strict interpretation of Islamic law,
known as sharia.
Since 2009, at least 14,000 people have died at the hands of the
Sunni fundamentalists in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger. According
to the United Nations, an estimated 2.7 million people in the region
have fled their homes due to Boko Haram.