At least 16 killed after Nigerian military mistakes civilians for criminal gangs

At least 16 civilians were killed in a military airstrike in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara state when a pilot mistook local self-defence forces as criminal gangs, according to residents.
“The group was returning to their villages after chasing away the bandits who attacked Dangebe when the fighter jet bombed them on reaching Tungar Kara village,” one local, Sa’idu Ibrahim told AFP.
Bube Namare, a local resident, said that the people of Dangebe had contacted around 15 nearby villages seeking assistance as motorcycle-riding gunmen attacked the village, setting homes on fire and stealing livestock.
“Sixteen bodies have been found but the toll may go up as (the) search for more bodies is going on this morning,” Namare said.
There have been multiple instances of military airstrikes targeting civilians in the ongoing battle against jihadists and bandits in Nigeria’s northeast and northwest. In December 2023, a Nigerian military airstrike mistakenly targeted a Muslim religious gathering in Tudun Biri, a community in northwestern Kaduna state, killing at least 85 people, mostly women and children.
In January 2017, a fighter jet struck a camp housing 40,000 people displaced by jihadist violence in the town of Rann, near the Cameroon border, killing at least 112 individuals. These incidents highlight the ongoing risks faced by civilians amid military operations.