According to local residents, at least 20 civilians were killed in a Nigerian military airstrike in Zamfara State. The incident occurred over the weekend when a military jet mistakenly targeted a group of local hitmen who were pursuing armed bandits responsible for raids in the area.
Residents of Maraya village and surrounding communities rushed to recover stolen cattle and rescue abducted villagers after criminal gangs attacked Mani and Wabi villages in the Maru area. According to eyewitnesses, the military, responding to calls for help, mistook the hitmen for the attackers and launched an offensive between Maraya and Wabi.
“We have experienced a double tragedy. Our people were attacked by bandits and those who tried to help were bombed by a fighter jet. Twenty people were killed,” said Buhari Dangulbi, a local resident.
The Nigerian military has not commented on the incident, which is the latest in a series of deadly attacks on civilians during military operations against armed groups in the country’s northwest and northeast. In recent years, dozens of people have been killed in several such incidents, often described by the military as “accidental.”
Saturday’s attack is the third such incident in Zamfara State. In January, 16 people were killed in a similar stray attack in Zurmi district, while in December 2022, more than 100 civilians were killed in Mutunji village. In another high-profile incident, at least 85 people were killed during a religious gathering in Kaduna State in December 2023.
The sustained attacks underscore growing concerns about civilian safety in military operations and the ongoing insecurity in rural areas of northern Nigeria, where banditry and kidnapping are common.