Nigerian Military Airstrike Mistakenly Kills Six Civilians Amid Fight Against Bandits

The airstrike came after armed bandits attacked a police base in the area, killing two policemen and a vigilante, the sources said.

 

At least six civilians were killed after a Nigerian Army jet mistakenly bombed a village while pursuing armed gangs in northern Nigeria’s Katsina State.

 

Local residents reported on Sunday that the incident took place on Saturday in Zakka village, Safana district, where a military jet dropped a bomb on a group of huts at the village’s outskirts, according to three witnesses.

 

The airstrike came after armed bandits attacked a police base in the area, killing two policemen and a vigilante, the sources said.

 

“The jet deployed after the bandits had withdrawn and circled the village before striking a cluster of huts belonging to a family outside the village,” Muntari Sada, a resident of Zakka, told AFP.

 

According to Sada, six family members were killed in the blast, and their remains had to be gathered in bags for burial.

 

Meanwhile, his account was corroborated by two other residents who confirmed the casualty toll.

 

Amnesty International has reported that at least 10 people were killed in the latest attack, calling for an “impartial, transparent, and immediate investigation” in a statement on Sunday, according to AFP.

 

The Nigerian military has not responded to AFP’s request for comment.

 

For years, Nigeria’s armed forces have been battling criminal gangs—commonly known as bandits—that terrorize communities in the country’s northwest and central regions.

 

These groups raid villages, kill or abduct residents for ransom, and burn homes after looting them.

 

Meanwhile, the latest incident is part of a pattern of deadly airstrikes in northern Nigeria.

 

In January, a military airstrike in northwestern Zamfara State killed at least 16 people after an army jet mistakenly targeted local vigilantes, believing them to be criminal gangs in the Zurmi district.

 

A month earlier, in December, a military jet killed 10 people and injured six others when it struck two villages while bombing suspected jihadist positions in Sokoto State.

 

Also in December 2023, a Nigerian military airstrike in the Tudun Biri community of northwestern Kaduna State mistakenly hit a Muslim religious gathering, killing at least 85 people, mostly women and children.

 

One of the deadliest incidents occurred in January 2017, when a fighter jet mistakenly bombed a displacement camp in Rann, near the Cameroon border, killing at least 112 people.

 

The camp had been sheltering around 40,000 people displaced by jihadist violence.

 

 

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