Nigeria’s Defense Headquarters has defended a drone attack that occurred on Sunday at Tudun Birni community in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, stating that terrorists were among the civilians killed during the incident.

Major General Edward Buba, the Director of Defence Media Operations, released a statement on Tuesday addressing the incident.

He explained that the attack was carried out in response to aerial surveillance that detected movements indicative of terrorist tactics and methods in the area.

Buba emphasized the need to eliminate the identified threat to prevent terrorists from causing harm to innocent civilians.

He stated, “The observed advance of the terrorists that were gathered posted a threat to key infrastructure within reach of the untoward activities. Accordingly, the threat was eliminated to prevent the terrorist from unleashing terror on innocent civilians.”

The Defense Headquarters acknowledged the tragedy of civilian casualties during military operations but highlighted the challenge of terrorists embedding themselves within civilian populations.

Buba added, “It should be noted that terrorists often deliberately embed themselves within civilian population centres in order for the civilian population to bear the consequences of their atrocities.”

The statement also mentioned military instructions for communities to alert troops about their activities, especially in areas known to be infested with terrorists.

However, the Defense Headquarters claimed that these instructions were not carried out in this particular instance.

“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 sympathizers. These instructions are intended at enabling the military to distinguish between friendly and untoward activities,” Buba stated.