Why do civilians often die in Nigerian military strikes that target rebels?
Why do civilians often die in Nigerian military strikes that target rebels?
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The Nigerian military has mistakenly killed hundreds of civilians in airstrikes targeting armed groups in the nation's conflict-battered north over the years, many of them locals bombed in their villages. The latest misfire was on Saturday when the Nigeria Air Force bombarded rebels in the conflict-battered northwestern Zamfara State but ended up erroneously killing civilians working with a community security outfit, the state government said. Residents told the Associated Press that at least 20 civilians were killed.
Since 2017, the military has killed about 400 civilians, according to SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based research firm that gathered reports and data from affected villages regarding the airstrikes. Rights groups and citizens have expressed concern over the military's actions in Africa's most populous country, which has been battling violent security crises on multiple fronts for many years.
Nigeria's Defense Chief Gen. Christopher Musa has said the military has been improving its human rights record and is holding its personnel to account. The armed groups causing havoc in Nigeria. Besides the Boko Haram Islamic extremist group which launched an insurgency in 2009 to establish its radical interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, in the northeast, there have been dozens of armed groups.
They are mostly former herdsmen caught up in decadeslong conflict with farming communities over access to land and water. Once armed with sticks, the groups now carry out attacks with guns that have been smuggled into the country, resulting in roughly thousands of deaths yearly.
