Nigerian senator says military bombs his convoy

Maiduguri: A Nigerian senator says a military aircraft fired four bombs at his cavalcade as he drove to the scene of an attack by suspected Islamic extremists in the country`s northeast. No one was hurt.

Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume said yesterday the military told him the bombing of his convoy escorted by security forces was "an operational blunder." Military spokesman Colonel Muhammed Dole said he knew nothing of the senator`s convoy being bombed Saturday, but confirmed a military operation with air support was going on around Ardoko village, 185 kilometers from Maiduguri, capital of Borno state. Ndume was traveling to Ardoko to commiserate with constituents attacked Saturday by extremists, who killed eight civilians. He said villagers who had come out to welcome him scattered as the bombs exploded.