Togo’s army on Thursday accepted that it was responsible for a blast that killed seven civilians and injured two more, after mistaking them for jihadists, reported France 24.
The explosion took place on Saturday in the northern Tone prefecture near the border with Burkina Faso, a region where militants and rebels linked to the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda are active.
Togo’s military forces are deployed in the area to help contain a spillover of the threat towards coastal West Africa.
On Sunday, the army said it launched an investigation to determine the circumstances of this explosion and identify the perpetrators.
On Thursday, Togo’s armed forces chief of staff General Dadja Maganawe said in a statement that the military aircraft had wrongly targeted the civilians in the village of Margba.
General Maganawe said that the army had previously received intelligence indicating a threat of infiltration by armed gangs who were planning to conduct terrorist attacks against local communities.
He said because of the imminent danger the commander leading an operation code-named Koundjoare reinforced surveillance as well as ground and aerial control in the area.
General Maganawe said during the operation an aircraft patrolling at night unfortunately targeted a group of people it had mistakenly identified as jihadists on the move.
“The Togolese armed forces express their profound regret in the face of this tragedy, and renew their sincere condolences to the families of those affected, and once more, wishes a prompt recovery to those injured,” Togo’s armed forces chief said.
He added that everything possible would be done to prevent this sort of tragedy from happening again.
Last month, Togo declared a state of emergency in its northern prefectures over the threat of Islamist militant attacks. Eight Togolese soldiers were killed in May in an attack in the region.
