Nigeria blamed as dozens killed in Niger funeral bombing

At least 36 civilians were killed when a military plane bombed a funeral party in a Niger border village, the governmentsaid, in an incident its deputymayor blamed on the Nigerian air force.
The air crew was likely to have mistakenthe villagers, who had gathered near a mosque, for Boko Haram militants, Niger military sourcesin the nearby town ofBosso said.
The military did not respond to Reuters' requestsfor commentabout Tuesday's incident, into which the Niger governmentsaid it had launched an inquiry.
"Yesterday... an unidentified plane dropped a bombon the village of Abadam-Niger... while the population was assembled near a mosque," the governmentsaid in statement read on state-owned television. "The provisional toll is 36 dead and 24 wounded."
The governmentdecreedthree days of national mourning.
Also Read: Around 30 civilians killed in bombing of Nigeria border town, Bosso
"Two planes flew over Abadam on Tuesday afternoon.For me, with that very visible green colour, they were fromNigeria," Abadam's deputymayor Youram Ari told Niger television stationLabari late on Wednesday.
Abadam lies on the border with Nigeria around 13km southwestof Bosso, where thousands of soldiers from Chad and Niger are massedin preparation for operations against Boko Haram.
Abadam in next to a Nigerian village of the same nameand military sourcesin Bosso earlier said the bombhad fallen in Nigeria.
Boko Haram, which is seeking to carve an Islamic emirate out of north-eastern Nigeria, killed an estimated10 000 peoplethere last year, and it is now expanding its zone of operations acrossthe region's borders.
Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin are preparing a 8 700-strong force to combat the militants.