The federal government says it’s saddened by the killing of residents in Zamfara state during the aerial bombardments of one of the enclaves of insurgents in the state. <\/p>\n
Recall that many residents were killed in a recent military operation in a community in Maru LGA of the area of the state. <\/p>\n
Scores of persons \u2014 including several villagers \u2014 were reportedly killed during a raid by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).<\/p>\n
The raid was said to have been targeted at fleeing bandits, who invaded the area.<\/p>\n
Speaking earlier on the incident, Bello Matawalle, governor of Zamfara, had said \u201cseveral bandits\u201d were killed during the raid, which took place over the weekend.<\/p>\n
He, however, did not give details on civilian fatalities.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the federal executive council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, Lai Mohammed, minister of information, said the federal government regrets the \u201ccollateral deaths\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn respect of the unfortunate collateral deaths in Zamfara state, I think the federal government regrets this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFighting insurgency is a very difficult thing. And as much as the air force or the military are careful, once in a while, it does happen \u2014 that innocent people actually also suffer. We will regret it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think it is the nature of fighting insurgency, and the military are very, very careful, especially the air force and the army when trying to contain insurgency, not to allow innocent lives to be killed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe air force regrets it; we regret it. But unfortunately, once in a while, it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The federal government says it’s saddened by the killing of residents in Zamfara state during the aerial bombardments of one of the enclaves of insurgents in the state. Recall that many residents were killed in a recent military operation in a community in Maru LGA of the area of the state. Scores of persons \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":19121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"custom","single_blog_custom":"211693","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"single-left","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"floatbottom","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"0","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":{"override_bookmark_button":"0","override_show_bookmark_button":"0"},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[30620,2963,1507,933],"class_list":["post-236687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-airstrikes","tag-insurgents","tag-military","tag-zamfara"],"yoast_head":"\n