Terrorism: Togolese army admits having killed seven civilians by mistake

The Togolese Armed Forces Chief of Staff confirmed on Thursday, July 14, 2022 that a plane had wrongly targeted civilians. Confused with terrorists on the move, seven civilians died and two others were injured.

The Togolese armed forces said they were responsible for the recent explosion that killed seven civilians and injured two others, after mistaking them for terrorists.

The explosion occurred in the prefecture of Tône, near the border with Burkina Faso, where a Sahelian terrorists insurgency threatens to spread to coastal West African countries.

Togolese troops are deployed in the area to try to contain an overflow of the threats.

The army opened an investigation on Sunday “to determine the circumstances of this explosion and identify the perpetrators”.

The chief of staff of the Togolese armed forces, General Dadja Maganawe, concluded on Thursday that a plane had wrongly targeted the civilians.

“On the night of July 9 to 10, around 1:30 a.m., an explosion caused several victims in the village of Margba, in the prefecture of Tône,” he said in a statement.

The General claimed to have received “intelligence” indicating a threat “of infiltration by armed gangs wanting to carry out terrorist attacks” against local communities.

“Due to the imminent danger,” he said, the commander leading an operation codenamed Koundjaore “has reinforced surveillance as well as ground and air control in the area.”

“It was during these operations that a plane patrolling at night unfortunately targeted a group of people it had mistakenly identified as jihadists on the move,” said Dadja Maganawe.

The Togolese armed forces expressed their deep regret at this tragedy, renewed their sincere condolences to the families of those affected and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. General Maganaw added that “everything will be done” to “prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again”.