Some 100 people killed in mistaken air force attack on Nigerian market
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ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A Nigerian Air Force strike targeting jihadi rebels hit a local market in northeastern Nigeria, killing over 100 residents and injuring many others, a rights group and local media reported on Sunday. Officials confirmed a misfire but did not provide details.
Amnesty International said it confirmed from survivors that at least 100 people were killed in the airstrike on a village in Yobe state near the border with Borno state, the epicenter of the jihadi insurgency ravaging the region for over a decade.
Such misfires are common in Nigeria where the military often conducts air raids to battle armed groups who use vast forest enclaves. The air raids have ended up killing at least 500 civilians since 2017, according to an AP tally of reported deaths. Security analysts point to loopholes in intelligence gathering as well as insufficient coordination between ground troops, air assets, and stakeholders.
The Yobe State Government confirmed in a statement that a Nigerian military strike was targeting a stronghold of the Boko Haram jihadi group in the area and that “some people … who went to the Jilli weekly market were affected.”
“We are in touch with people that are there, we spoke with the hospital. We spoke with the person in charge of casualties and we spoke with the victims,” Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International Nigeria director, told The Associated Press.
The Nigerian Air Force did not immediately respond to an AP inquiry.