A Nigerian military airstrike mistakenly killed 16 civilians, including members of a local vigilante group, in the Tungar Kara community of Zamfara State on Sunday. The strike, intended to target armed bandits operating in the region, instead hit civilians who were defending their community against an alleged attack by gunmen.
The incident, initially reported by Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication, highlights the growing difficulties faced by Nigeria’s military in distinguishing between combatants and non-combatants in ongoing counter-insurgency operations. According to intelligence sources, the airstrike was aimed at bandits fleeing from Gidan Makera, a village in the Boko district of Zurmi Local Government Area (LGA), but tragically struck members of the Zamfara Community Protection Guard (ZCPG), a group of local vigilantes working alongside the military to combat criminal groups.
Sulaiman Bala Idris, spokesperson for the Zamfara State governor, confirmed the deaths and expressed condolences to the victims’ families. He clarified that the casualties were mistakenly identified as militants. The statement further indicated that while successful airstrikes were carried out in the Maradun and Zurmi LGAs over the weekend, local security personnel and civilian defenders in Tungar Kara were among those affected by the misdirected strike.
This deadly error underscores the complex and often tragic consequences of counter-insurgency operations in northern Nigeria, where the line between combatants and civilians is frequently blurred. The airstrike is the latest in a series of incidents where civilians have been caught in the crossfire of military efforts against armed groups.
In December 2023, a Nigerian airstrike targeted a Muslim religious gathering in the Tudun Biri community in Kaduna State, killing at least 85 people, mostly women and children. A similar airstrike in January 2017 resulted in the deaths of 112 people when a fighter jet mistakenly struck a camp for displaced persons near the Cameroon border.
As Nigeria continues its fight against insurgency and criminal gangs in the northern regions, these incidents highlight the ongoing risks to civilian lives and the challenges faced by security forces in conducting operations while minimizing harm to non-combatants.