The Togolese army would be the author of the killing of the seven children which took place the night of July 9 to 10 in the village of Margba, in the prefecture of Tône, in the north of the country.
Ella made her mea culpa through her chief of staff, General Dadja Maganawe, who referred to an “error”. The drama had occurred against the backdrop of “consistent information reporting threats of infiltration by armed gangs wishing to carry out terrorist attacks” against local communities, he explained in a press release.
According to his words, “faced with the imminence of danger”, the command of an operation called “Koundjoaré” has “strengthened surveillance and land and air control of the indicated area”; and “it was during these operations that an aircraft on night patrol accidentally targeted a group of people whom it mistook for a moving jihadist column”.
The children confused with the jihadists were returning from festivities organized on the occasion of Eid el-Adha. The version mentioned at the start was that these kids had come across a mine that had exploded. Thus, the authorities had indexed suspected terrorists. It was thanks to an investigation carried out to elucidate the circumstances of the attack that the truth emerged.
The Togolese armed forces have expressed “their deep regret at this tragedy”. While renewing “their sincere condolences” to the bereaved families, they promised “to do everything possible to prevent the occurrence of this kind of tragedy in the future”.
By OMA Newsletter N° 782 of 15/07/2022
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
