At least 20 civilians have been killed in a military airstrike in Nigeria.
The incident took place in the northwestern state of Zamfara.
Residents said a group of local volunteers were targeted in the attack while chasing an armed group in Zamfara state.
The Nigerian army, however, has not commented on the matter.
This is the latest airstrike in recent years. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in operations against various armed groups in the country. These groups include jihadists and so-called ‘bandit’ gangs.
Residents said a group of bandits attacked the villages of Mani and Wabi in Maru district of Zamfara, looting livestock and kidnapping many people.
Locals from the nearby village of Maraya and other neighboring areas gathered to chase the abductees and their cattle. However, after informing the security forces, a military aircraft that arrived at the scene mistakenly mistook the volunteers for bandits and dropped bombs on them.
Local resident Buhari Dangulbi said, “We suffered a double disaster on Saturday. The bandits took many of our people and cattle, and those who went to rescue them were killed by warplanes. Twenty people died.”
Amnesty International has called on Nigerian authorities to conduct a transparent investigation into the incident.
In recent years, these bandits have been taking advantage of mismanagement in the northwestern region of Nigeria. They are not committed for ideological reasons like the jihadists in the northeast, but for economic reasons. On the other hand, many civilians have been killed in such airstrikes. Saturday’s incident was the third such incident in Zamfara state. Source: Daily Post Nigeria, Al-Arabiya