Civilians were among 16 people in Kakindawa Village, Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State, who were killed in a Nigerian military airstrike on Saturday evening. The deceased included members of the Zamfara Community Protection Guard (ZCPG), vigilantes and residents of the community.
A resident in the area told The Punch that the incident occurred on Saturday evening as local vigilantes were heading to assist neighbours in Tungar Kara Village, which was under attack by bandits.
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The resident, who lost a son in the airstrike, said the vigilantes were mobilised after receiving reports of bandits rustling livestock and attempting to abduct villagers. He added that 16 people were killed.
“As we were heading to Tungar Kara around 3:30 pm, an aircraft suddenly appeared in the area and dropped a bomb on the vigilantes. The bandits had already escaped into the forest,” the source said.
“We mobilised to protect our neighbours, but tragically, the aircraft targeted the vigilantes instead of the fleeing bandits. It’s heartbreaking.”
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The spokesperson for Operation Fansan Yamma, Lieutenant Colonel Abubakar Abdullahi, said that he would investigate the matter and provide further details.
Reacting to the incident, Amnesty International Nigeria said the authorities must immediately and impartially investigate the Saturday evening air strike as dozens of people injured were in critical condition without access to medical care.
“Launching air raids is not a legitimate law enforcement method by anyone’s standard. Such reckless use of deadly force is unlawful, outrageous and lays bare the Nigerian military’s shocking disregard for the lives of those it supposedly exists to protect,” Amnesty posted on X on Sunday.
“The Nigerian authorities’ consistent failure to hold the military to account is encouraging impunity and increasingly endangering the lives of the civilians the military is supposed to be protecting,” the NGO stated.
On December 25, a Nigerian military airstrike in Sokoto State killed at least 10 people and injured many others.
The military claimed to be targeting the Lakurawa terrorist group in the villages of Gidan Sama and Rumtuwa.
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One reply on “Another Military Airstrike Kills Civilians in Zamfara”
Whenever it involves the Nigerian government generally, we never expect anything good from them.