NGO Calls Airstrike In Southern Niger That Claimed 12 Lives 'Unprecedented' Event

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st February, 2022) International humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders on Monday described a recent attack on a locality in southern Niger that killed 12 people as an "unprecedented" and horrific event."

The incident occurred on February 18, when a Nigerian aircraft pursuing armed men hiding in a local school flew over the area, dropping ammunition. Apart from deaths, 16 people sustained injuries.

"This is a horrific event, unprecedented in the Madarounfa region (Niger). Our teams report that the injured children suffered open fractures and various wounds and post-traumatic injuries.

We performed first aid before transferring them to Maradi hospital, but some of the injured did not survive," Souley Harouna, MSF representative in Niger, was quoted as saying in a statement.

The NGO said it assisted local health authorities with medical supplies to treat the injured, including hospitalized children, three of whom died upon arrival at hospitals and one in the airstrike.

Six adults were reported to have died at the scene of the bombing, and two others succumbed to wounds in the hospital.