Soldiers of the Niger Army on Thursday killed 14 civilians after incorrectly identifying them for militants of the Boko Haram group, a local official said, according to Reuters. The victims, all unarmed farmers, were in a restricted zone around Abadam village near the Nigerian border when they were gunned down by a patrol party.

“Fourteen people are dead,” said Yahaya Godi, secretary general of the Diffa region of southeast Niger. “Abadam is a village located in the red zone and has been prohibited for a very long time. Any individual seen in the area is considered Boko Haram.”

Godi identified two of the dead from Niger and the rest from neighbouring Nigeria, where the militant outfit is based. Boko Haram has carried out several cross-border attacks into Niger, Cameroon and Chad in the past.

It was not immediately clear why the civilians were in the restricted area. The Niger Army has not offered a comment.