At least 100 dead in Nigeria after air force 'misfire' on market,
sources say
[April 13, 2026]
By DYEPKAZAH SHIBAYAN and HARUNA UMAR
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — A Nigerian Air Force strike targeting jihadi
rebels hit a local market in northeastern Nigeria, killing over 100
civilians including children and injuring many others, a rights group
and local media reported on Sunday. Officials confirmed a misfire
without providing details.
Amnesty International cited survivors as saying that at least 100 people
were killed in the airstrike on Saturday on a village in Yobe state,
near the border with Borno state, which is the epicenter of the jihadi
insurgency that has ravaged the region for over a decade.
“We have their pictures and they include children,” Isa Sanusi, Amnesty
International's Nigeria director, told The Associated Press, referring
to the casualties.
“We are in touch with people that are there, we spoke with the
hospital,” he said. “We spoke with the person in charge of casualties,
and we spoke with the victims.”
A worker at the Geidam General hospital, in Yobe, said at least 23
people injured in the incident were receiving treatment. The worker
spoke anonymously as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Such misfires are common in Nigeria, where the military often conducts
air raids to battle armed groups who control vast forest enclaves. At
least 500 civilians have died since 2017 in such misfires, according to
an AP tally of reported deaths. Security analysts point to loopholes in
intelligence gathering as well as insufficient coordination between
ground troops, air assets and stakeholders.
The large, remote market located near the Borno-Yobe border is known to
be often used by Boko Haram jihadis to buy food supplies.
Abdulmumin Bulama, a member of a civilian security group working with
the Nigerian military in the northeast, said there was intelligence that
Boko Haram terrorists had gathered very close to the market and were
planning an attack on nearby communities.
“The intel was shared and the Air Force jet acted based on the credible
information,” Bulama said.
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In this photo taken on April 22, 2017, Nigerian Air Force
officers display ammunition next to a fighter jet during an event in
Makurdi, Nigeria. (AP Photo/ Sunday Alamba, file)
The Yobe State Government confirmed in a statement that a Nigerian
military strike was targeting a stronghold of the Boko Haram jihadi
group in the area and that “some people … who went to the Jilli
weekly market were affected.”
The Yobe State Emergency Management Agency also acknowledged that an
incident had occurred resulting in “casualties affecting some
marketers” and said it had dispatched response teams to the area.
Nigeria's military issued a statement saying it conducted a
successful strike on a “terrorist enclave and logistics hub”
belonging to jihadis in the area, killing scores of them as they
rode on motorcycles. It did not provide any detail about a possible
misfire, but noted that motorcycles remain prohibited in conflict
hot spots and “any such movements in restricted areas are therefore
treated with the utmost seriousness.”
Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation
into the incident, adding that the military is “fond of” labeling
civilian casualties as bandits
Nigeria, which is Africa’s most populous country, is battling a
complex security crisis, especially in the north, where there is a
decade-long insurgency and several armed groups that kidnap for
ransom.
Among the most prominent Islamic militant groups are Boko Haram and
its breakaway faction, which is affiliated with the Islamic State
group and known as Islamic State West Africa Province. There is also
the IS-linked Lakurawa group operating in communities in the
northwestern part of the country that borders Niger Republic.
——
Shibayan reported from Abuja, Nigeria.
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