LAGOS, April 13 (Reuters) – A Nigerian airstrike at a village market in which more than 200 people are feared dead is the latest incident in which the military has hit civilian targets while pursuing Islamist militants or armed groups.
Here are some of the recent incidents where airstrikes killed civilians.
April 2026 – At least 200 people were feared dead after Nigerian military jets struck a village market L6N40V03N while pursuing Islamist militants in the northeast of the country on Saturday night, a councillor for the area and residents said on Sunday.
January 2025 – Nigeria’s Air Force said it was investigating reports of civilian casualties during an airstrike that targeted armed gangs in the northwest L8N3O90FR. Residents told Reuters that at least 15 civilians, including local security guards, were killed.
December 2024 – Nigeria’s military acknowledged that an airstrike targeting a Lakurawa militant group hideout in the northwestern Sokoto state killed 10 civilians because of secondary explosions.
September 2024 – At least 24 people were killed in an airstrike on a village in Kaduna state during an Air Force operation targeting armed gangs and their hideout.
April 2024 – An airstrike on a village in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara state killed at least 33 people during Eid after a military operation targeting armed kidnapping gangs and their hideouts.
December 2023 – At least 85 people, including women and children, were killed following a military drone attack in northern Kaduna state. Two military officers faced court-martial for the incident after President Bola Tinubu ordered an investigation.
January 2023 – Dozens of ethnic Fulani herders were killed in an aerial bombing in the central Nigerian state of Nasarawa as they were unloading cattle retrieved from authorities in a neighbouring state. The incident was the subject of a Reuters special report and the Nigerian Air Force later acknowledged responsibility for it.
(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Comments