- In West African Togo, seven civilians were killed in an explosion on Saturday night.
- Now the country’s military has said the civilians were killed in an airstrike they carried out. The army mistakenly mistook them for jihadists.
- Information had been received that armed groups were planning attacks in the area. The army expresses its deepest regrets, the statement said.
The incident happened in a northern region of the country, where a state of emergency is currently in place due to the risk of Islamist attacks. Explosions erupted in Tone prefecture near the border with Burkina Faso.
There, a jihadist uprising from the Sahel wants to expand to the West African coastal states. Togolese troops are stationed in the area and are trying to stem the extremists’ advance.
Army investigated explosions
In a statement on Sunday, the army said it had launched an investigation “to determine the circumstances of this explosion and to identify the perpetrators.” On the night of Friday, the general of the Togolese armed forces, Dadja Maganawe, presented the findings
He came to the conclusion that one plane had mistakenly aimed at civilians. “At around 1:30 a.m. on the night of July 9-10, an explosion in Margba village, Tone prefecture, claimed several lives,” he said in a statement.
He said the army had received “consistent information pointing to the threat of infiltration by armed gangs planning to carry out terrorist attacks” on local communities.