A military airstrike targeting bandits mistakenly claimed the lives of six persons at Yauni Community of Zakka Ward in Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State.

This tragic incident, however, left the community in great shock and pandemonium.

Security sources told Channels Television on Monday that those killed were mostly single family members, comprising three children, a man, and two women.

The incident, which occurred in the aftermath of Saturday’s Local Government Elections, occurred after security operatives attempted to thwart an attack planned by bandits against voters in Zakka village.

Eyewitness recalled that security forces, comprising the police and members of the State Community Watch Corps (CWC) engaged the bandits in a fierce gun battle where two police officers and a CWC operative were killed on the spot in a gun battle.

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The source explained that another officer, who sustained various injuries, later succumbed to death.

He explained that shortly after the deadly clash between the security forces and the bandits, a military fighter jet was dispatched for reinforcement where it mistakenly dropped a bomb on the Yauni community located in the Southern part of Zakka village.

“As a result of this, we lost our men in the gun battle. Another woman was also left injured,” the eyewitness noted.

However military and government authorities have not commented on the matter as of the time of this report.

This was not the first time a tragedy of such magnitude and nature happened.

In July 2022, at least two people were equally reported to have been killed when a military fighter jet mistakenly dropped a bomb on Kunkunni village, in the Safana Local Government Area of the State.

Earlier in the year, a military airstrike in Zamfara mistakenly killed 16 persons. Those affected included members of the Zamfara Community Protection Guard (ZCPG), local vigilantes, and residents.