At least 16 civilians in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara state have been killed in a military airstrike, apparently after they were mistaken for criminal gangs.
Residents told local media that the victims were members of local vigilante groups and civilians defending themselves against armed gangs known for kidnapping people for ransom.
The strikes targeted militant gangs in Zurmi and Maradun areas and the state governor, Dauda Lawal, expressed his condolences to the community.
The army admitted carrying out the airstrikes which it said dealt a “decisive blow to the bandits who have been terrorizing villages in the area”.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said it was investigating “reports of loss of vigilantes”.
“While the operation successfully eliminated several bandits and led to the recovery of some kidnapping victims, the NAF views with serious concern the reports of loss of civilian lives during the operation,” the statement said.
It said an ongoing “comprehensive investigation” would establish the truth of the matter, which would be “communicated to inform and reassure the public”.
The AFP news agency quoted a local as saying that civilians were returning to their villages after driving away the bandits who had been bombed.
Locals “retrieved 16 bodies from the attack and took several other people with serious injuries to the hospital,” Sa’idu Ibrahim was quoted as saying.
Human rights group Amnesty International of Nigeria put the death toll at 20 and said dozens more were injured in the attack on the village of Tunga Kara, and called on authorities to “immediately and impartially” investigate the incident.
“Launching airstrikes is not a legitimate method of law enforcement by anyone’s standards. Such wanton use of lethal force is illegal, outrageous and exposes the Nigerian military’s shocking disregard for the lives of those it supposedly exists to protect,” the statement said. .
In recent years, Nigerian security forces have been battling powerful criminal gangs, known as bandits, who have been terrorizing the north-western and central states. Bandits attack villages, burn homes and kill and kidnap residents for ransom.
Several random airstrikes have occurred in recent months, including an attack on Christmas Day that killed at least 10 civilians in neighboring Sokoto state.
In 2023, at least 85 civilians, mostly women and children, attending a Muslim religious gathering in a village in Kaduna State were killed after being mistaken for bandits.
In January 2017, at least 112 people were killed when a jet crashed into a camp housing 40,000 people displaced by jihadist violence in a town near the Cameroon border.
