Story highlights Nigeria denies it flew any sorties in the area on day in question

Security source says it was an accident as target was Boko Haram militants

Resident who helped bury dead says 37 people were killed

KANO, Nigeria (CNN) A military plane on Tuesday dropped a bomb on mourners in a Niger village on the border with Nigeria, killing 37 people and wounding 20 others, residents and a regional security source in Niger told CNN.

"A military jet on an operational mission against Boko Haram targets accidentally attacked a funeral gathering in Abadam Faransa, killing several people," the security source said Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

Resident Abatcha Kaloma, who assisted with the burials of the dead, said 37 people were killed and 20 were wounded, figures backed up by a community leader who didn't want to be named.

It was unclear which nation's military carried out the bombing, but residents blamed Nigeria, a charge it denied. Air Commodore Dele Alonge, a spokesman for the Nigerian Air Force, said the military didn't conduct air raids in that area Tuesday.

The security source wouldn't say where the plane was from.

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