The Defence Headquarters has defended Sunday’s drone attack on Ligarma community in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, saying it was based on credible intelligence about the presence of terrorists in the area.
Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, the Director of Defence Media Operations, said in a statement on Tuesday that the Nigerian Army Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) detachment observed suspicious movement of terrorists at Ligarma around 10pm on Sunday.
Ligarma is known to be a terrorist-infested area of Kaduna State.
He said the aerial surveillance captured movement of groups of persons synonymous with the terrorist tactics and modus operandi.
Buba explained that the observed advance of the terrorists that were gathered posed a threat to key infrastructure within reach of their activities.
According to him, the threat was eliminated to prevent the terrorist from unleashing terror on innocent civilians.
“It should be noted that terrorists often deliberately embed themselves within civilian population centres for civilian population to bear the consequences of their atrocities.
“Nevertheless, the Nigerian military does its best at all times to distinguish between civilians and terrorists.
“The military views every civilian death in the cause of operations as a tragedy as such tragedies are needless and unwanted, which causes the armed forces to take extensive measures to avoid them,” he said.
According to him, one such measure taken by the military is to continually give precise instructions to communities.
“For instance, communities are to always alert troops of their activities particularly when such a community is known to be infested with terrorists and their sympathisers.
“These instructions are intended at enabling the military distinguish between friendly and untoward activities,” he said.
Buba said the armed forces would continue to operate in line with international laws and would also continue its determined and cautious progress in eradicating terrorists from the land.
He said the terrorists were often disguised as civilians to perpetrate terror as part of their tactics, adding that the military would continue to find innovative solutions to the challenges faced in the conduct of its operations.
(NAN)
