Less than three weeks after a December 25 military airstrike in Sokoto state reportedly killed 10 villagers, an airstrike in Zamfara state has resulted in more accidental deaths. The victims, who the military wrongly identified as bandits, were members of a local vigilante group and farmers in the vicinity of Tungar Kara village, Zurmi Local Government Area.
Similar airstrikes have killed hundreds of people in Nigeria. They have been carried out during operations against bandit gangs that emerged from years of conflict between farming and herding communities in Nigeria’s northwest. The military has called the killings of ordinary people accidental, but such deaths have become a recurring feature of these airstrikes.
Besides the costly human toll, these mistakes are indicative of significant failures in operational protocol and military oversight.
The Nigerian Air Force, which carried out the Tungar Kara airstrike, claims that the strike dealt a “decisive blow” to bandits in the area but also expressed “grave concern” about “reports of the loss of civilian lives.” The air force says it has launched a “comprehensive investigation” into the incident. However, similar promises by military authorities to ensure justice and accountability for airstrikes in the past have yielded little to no results.
In a statement on January 12, the Zamfara state government, while expressing condolences for the mistaken deaths, also commended what it called the military’s “successful” strike.
A Tungar Kara villager, one of the first on the scene, told Human Rights Watch that he found 17 dead bodies and over 30 others injured.
A 52-year-old farmer who sustained injuries described how a few minutes after seeing the vigilantes ride past his farm on motorcycles, a sand-colored jet appeared in the sky above them. “The area became dusty and smoky, the reverberation was so loud, then I realized bombs had been dropped on them. Due to my proximity, I was hit by shrapnel,” he said.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu should urgently work with the military leadership to address the escalating number of civilian lives claimed by airstrikes. Security forces should be held accountable for any and all abuses. Next steps should include reforming military operational protocols and oversight, ensuring justice for victims, and measures to better protect innocent people during security operations.
