Nigerian Air Strike Targeting Militants Backfires-100 Civilians Killed

Nigerian Air Strike Targeting Militants Misfires, Killing More than 100 Civilians NIGERIA Nigeria A Nigerian military strike targeting militants hit a northeast marketplace over the weekend, killing more than 100 civilians and injuring numerous others, prompting authorities to open an investigation as such errors have become a grim, recurring pattern. The Nigerian Air Force said in a statement that it had dispatched a team “to immediately proceed to the location on a fact-finding mission on the allegation,” as officials continued to assess the aftermath of the strike. While authorities acknowledged that an error had occurred, they did not release further details or confirm a final death toll. However, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said survivors had told them that at least 100 people were killed in the airstrike, including many children. The strike hit Jilli market near the border of Borno and Yobe states, where military aircraft had been targeting Islamist militants. The area is the epicenter of a jihadist insurgency that has plagued the region for more than a decade. Local authorities in Yobe said the operation had been aimed at a stronghold of the Boko Haram militant group. A civilian security volunteer working with the Nigerian military in the northeast said intelligence showed the group’s militants were gathered near the market and were planning to strike surrounding communities. Air raids are a common tactic in Nigeria’s fight against armed groups operating from forested areas, but they have repeatedly resulted in civilian deaths. An Associated Press tally found that at least 500 civilians have been killed in such incidents since 2017. Analysts attribute the repeated errors to gaps in intelligence and weak coordination between ground forces, air units and other stakeholders. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has been grappling for years with Boko Haram and other militant groups as well as kidnapping-for-ransom gangs in the northeast.