Nigeria’s military said on Wednesday that there has been no evidence of civilian casualties from an airstrike on militants in the northwest Zamfara state this month, calling reports of large death tolls unverified and misleading.
Amnesty International claimed this week that at least 100 civilians were killed in the May 10 airstrike on a crowded market in Tumfa village, urging authorities to open an immediate investigation.
“No credible, substantiated evidence of civilian casualties has been established through any official assessment or independent verification,” Defence Headquarters spokesperson Major-General Michael Onoja said in a statement.
He said the strike was conducted under international humanitarian law and targeted a “confirmed high-level gathering” of militant leaders in the village which was based on multi-sourced intelligence.
Onoja added that the nature of the strike meant that immediate casualty verification was difficult, but a post-strike assessment showed that “several terrorists were neutralised.”
Nigeria’s military air campaign against armed bandits has increasingly relied on drones and air interdiction strikes in areas where heavily armed groups operate across forests and difficult terrain.
