Amnesty International has called for an investigation into a Nigerian military airstrike on a crowded market in the country's northwest, which the rights group says killed at least 100 civilians. The strike hit Tumfa market in Zamfara State on Sunday, according to Amnesty's Nigeria office, which described it as the latest deadly attack on civilians.

"The authorities must investigate these deadly strikes, and put an end to reckless attacks on civilians," Amnesty said on social media. The Red Cross also confirmed the strike. However, a spokesman for Nigeria's military, Major General Michael Onoja, told AFP that reports of civilian deaths in Zamfara were "not true." In a separate statement to the Associated Press, the military said "no verifiable evidence of civilian casualties as being suggested in the media has been established."

Dozens of injured people are being treated in nearby hospitals, and many of the dead are reported to be women and girls, according to community leaders in the area. "Everybody, residents and bandits, goes to the market," said Garba Ibrahim Mashema. "People are at the mercy of the bandits. There is nothing they can do."

A Red Cross official in the state, Ibrahim Bello Garba, told the Associated Press that "multiple civilians" were killed. Sunday's strike follows another deadly market airstrike last month in Jilli, in northeastern Nigeria, in which around 200 civilians were killed.

"In parts of the north facing conflicts, civilians have borne the brunt of suffering far too often," Amnesty said. "These horrific deaths must not be overlooked." The strike comes as Nigeria is dealing with banditry and a jihadist insurgency in parts of the country, where profit-driven gangs raid villages, kidnap people and extort money in rural areas.

Source: www.dw.com