Nigerian military said it is examining the latest video from Boko Haram group purporting to show some of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls.
In the video released by the insurgent group on Sunday, girls purported to be part of the 275 kidnapped in Chibok about two years ago were seen wearing headscarves behind a Boko Haram militant who demanded the release of fighters in return for freeing the girls.
The militant also claimed that some of the girls have been killed in air strikes.
The Director Defence Information, Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar disclosed that the military is examining the video clip to verify its authenticity.
He said: “Currently we are studying the video clips to verify its authenticity and analysing the comments of the speakers in the video especially the terrorist member and the girl that spoke in mother tongue”
General Rabe also disputed allegations in the video that some of the kidnapped girls were hit by an airstrike.
He said: “It is extremely difficult and rare to hit innocent people during airstrike because the operation is done through precision attack on identified and registered targets and locations. The precision airstrike is very effective at taking out targeted enemies because it is not a random operation. We are nevertheless studying the video clips to examine if the victims died from other causes rather from the allegation of airstrike.”
The Nigerian Air Force through its Component in Operation Lafiya Dole has focused on sustaining air operations and providing support to ground troops of the Armed Forces’ strive to rid Nigeria of the Boko Haram insurgency.
PRNigeria however report a top officer as saying that “Nigeria Airforce employs precision guided weapons with modern Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance systems to reduce likely collateral damage from any airstrike. All the areas stroke throughout the operation were thoroughly monitored on intelligence surveillance and eye services before the attacks or shelling. Most of the targets areas were clearly identified before the air strikes to avoid collateral damages.”
The Defence Headquarters has promised to issue an update after its investigation.