At least 16 civilians in Nigeria's northwestern Zamfara state have been killed in a military air strike, apparently after being mistaken for criminal gangs.
Residents told local media that the victims were members of local vigilante groups and civilians defending themselves from armed gangs known for kidnapping people for ransom.
The strikes targeted militant gangs in Zurmi and Maradun areas and the state governor, Dauda Lawal, offered his condolences to the community.
The military acknowledged the airstrikes, which they said dealt a “decisive blow to bandits terrorizing villages in the area”.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said it was investigating “reports of loss of vigilance”.
“Although the operation successfully eliminated several bandits and led to the recovery of some kidnap victims, the NAF views with deep concern the reports of civilian loss of life in the course of the operation,” it said in a statement.
It said an ongoing “comprehensive investigation” would establish the truth of the matter, which would be “reported to inform and reassure the public”.
AFP quoted a local resident as saying that civilians were returning to their villages after driving out bandits when they were bombed.
Villagers “retrieved 16 bodies from the attacks and took several other people with serious injuries to the hospital,” Saidu Ibrahim was quoted as saying.
Human rights group Amnesty International Nigeria put the death toll at 20 and said dozens more were injured in the attack on Tunga Kara village and called on authorities to “immediately and impartially” investigate the incident.
“Undertaking airstrikes is not a legitimate method of law enforcement by anyone's standards.” “Such reckless use of lethal force is illegal, outrageous and reveals the Nigerian Army's shocking disregard for the lives of those it supposedly exists to protect,” the statement said.
In recent years, Nigeria's security forces have been battling powerful criminal gangs known as bandits who have been terrorizing the northwestern and central states. Bandits raid villages, burn homes and kill and kidnap residents for ransom.
Several sporadic 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 plane hit a camp housing 40,000 people displaced by jihadist violence in a town near the border with Cameroon.