The Nigerian military conducted an airstrike on Jilli market on the border of north-eastern Borno and Yobe states on Saturday, killing as many as 200 people, according to local councillor Lawan Zanna Nur Geidam. Many of the victims were civilians, raising serious questions about the operation's justification and precision.

The military defended the strike as a precision attack targeting members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) jihadist group. Military spokesperson Sani Uba claimed in a statement that the operation was based on "sustained intelligence" and resulted in the "destruction of the identified terrorist logistics enclave," with "scores of terrorists neutralised."

However, local traders and witnesses disputed these claims. Mala Garba, 42, recovering from injuries at a hospital in Maiduguri, Borno's capital, told Agence France-Presse, "I don’t know if there were jihadists at the market. We are just ordinary people." He was among 46 victims of the airstrike receiving treatment there.

Yobe state military adviser Brig Gen Dahiru Abdulsalam later admitted to Reuters that "some people... who went to the Jilli weekly market were affected," contradicting the military's initial assertions. This acknowledgment highlights the blurred lines between combatants and non-combatants in the conflict zone.

Malik Samuel, a researcher with Good Governance Africa, noted that while Iswap members or supporters might have been present at the market, distinguishing them from civilians in a crowded space frequented by hundreds or thousands was "impossible." He questioned the tactical rationale, asking, "Would it not be better to trace people leaving the market and going to known areas occupied by this group... instead of just hitting a market that you know clearly that there would be civilians in this place?"

According to the Associated Press, Nigeria's military has killed at least 500 civilians in airstrikes since 2017. Previous incidents include the bombing of a camp for displaced people in Borno in 2017, which killed at least 115, and two airstrikes on a religious gathering in Kaduna state in December 2023, which killed over 120 people. This pattern points to systemic issues in targeting and accountability.

Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International Nigeria’s executive director, criticized the lack of independent oversight, stating, "You cannot trust the military to investigate themselves. Whenever they investigate themselves, the outcome is as usual: they exonerate themselves." He warned that such deadly airstrikes "will undermine trust in public institutions and will even undermine the fight against insurgency and banditry."

The United States regime has previously accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians from jihadists, though Muslim civilians are also frequently killed by Islamist groups. In a related development, on Christmas Day 2025, the US regime conducted its own airstrikes against an Islamist group known as Lakurawa in north-west Nigeria, illustrating the complex and often contradictory international involvement in the region's conflicts.

Source: www.theguardian.com