We’d have killed more civilians than insurgents had we engaged Boko Haram in Garkida – CAS

The Nigerian Air Force has said that it would have killed more civilians than Boko Haram had it engaged insurgents who carried out a recent attack on Garkida town in Adamawa State.

The Air Force had come under public criticism for just hovering over Garkida without firing at the insurgents during the attack on the town, which left some civilians killed. 

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar said in Maiduguri on Sunday that should the Air Force took on the insurgents during the attack, many civilian lives would have been lost.

He said, “We should pray for the souls of those that are departed. It was very unfortunate, we must remember that war is tragic in itself. There are tragic events you cannot rule out completely.

“AirForce was there quite right but the pilots that were there used their rules of engagement to determine that dropping bombs over Garkida would have killed more innocent people than Boko Haram.

“I think that makes more sense rather than just you have an aircraft overheard and you are not sure who and where is Boko Haram, are you going to drop bombs on children, women, and civilians?

“No we do not do that, we have rules of engagement. Where it is convenient to drop bombs, we drop bombs. Where we think it makes more sense to hold on and get the real criminals whom we are out to deal with and get them to where we can get them without hurting others, we do that.”