Nigeria probes civilian deaths in market strike aimed at terrorists
More than 100 people were killed and 35 severely injured in the strike, which hit Jilli village of the Yobe state, according to residents and rights group.
The Nigerian Air Force has initiated a probe into allegations of civilian casualties after scores of civilians were allegedly killed during a Nigerian military airstrike targeting Boko Haram terrorists in the country’s northeast.
The strike targeted a local market over the weekend, according to residents.
In a statement on Sunday, Nigerian Air Force spokesman Sanni Uba said the operation followed sustained intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions that tracked the movements of terrorists, including motorcycles and gun trucks, converging on the area.
Ejodame added the service is taking the allegations seriously amid rising concern from residents.
“It treats all reports of possible civilian harm with the utmost seriousness and empathy. The CAS has directed an immediate activation of the Civilian Harm Accident and Investigation Cell (CHAI-Cell) to immediately proceed to the location on a fact-finding mission on the allegation.”
Tracking terrorists
More than 100 people were allegedly killed and 35 severely injured in the strike, which hit Jilli village of the Yobe state—an area at the centre of a long-running insurgency involving Boko Haram, Amnesty International claimed on Monday.
Eyewitnesses claimed three military jets fired on a market in the village, it added in a statement posted on social media platform X.
The air force said the strike followed "intensified efforts to track and neutralise terrorist elements responsible for recent attacks on security forces within the wider theatre; the follow-on strikes were aimed at fleeing remnants and regrouping cells seeking to exploit the difficult terrain.”
Reacting to the development, Babagana Umara Zulum, governor of Borno state, neighbouring Yobe, said the market had been officially shut down by the government about five years ago due to its use as a logistics hub by terrorists and their collaborators.
Nigeria has battled terrorism in the northeast for over a decade. The conflict has killed thousands and displaced millions across the Lake Chad region.