At least 50 people were killed and many others injured when the Nigerian military conducted airstrikes Saturday against insurgents in northeastern Nigeria, according to residents and the local authorities.
A Nigerian military spokesman, Lt. Col. Sani Uba, said the strikes hit what he called a terrorist enclave and logistics hub near Jilli, in what he said was an abandoned village in Borno State, killing militants who had taken up residence there.
But the local authorities and human rights groups described a starkly different scene, saying the bombs struck a weekly market that attracts hundreds of people and denying that the town was abandoned. They said the number of dead, mostly civilians, was much higher than reported.
“I spoke to the hospital authorities, and they confirmed that at least 100 have been killed,” said Isa Sanusi, the executive director of Amnesty International in Nigeria.
Others put the death toll even higher. “The figures are not certain, as we are still recovering bodies,” said Malam Lawan Zanna, a member of a local council. “But as I am speaking, over 200 people have lost their lives from the airstrike at the market.”
Nigeria’s northeast has experienced a surge in violent attacks in recent months, analysts say, mainly involving clashes between the military and two of the country’s most powerful terrorist groups, Boko Haram and a splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province.
“Political violence in Nigeria overall rose by over 25 percent in March,” said Ladd Serwat, an Africa analyst at the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project, a research group in Madison, Wis. But the most striking shift was in the intensity of battles, both in number and in body counts, he said.
Last week, the State Department authorized so-called voluntary departures for U.S. government employees and their families in Nigeria because of the “deteriorating security situation” and advised U.S. citizens against traveling to at least 23 states, covering nearly two-thirds of the country.
The warning, which the Nigerian government dismissed as not reflective of “the overall security situation,” came even as the two countries stepped up military collaboration to fight against what officials said were terrorists and criminal gangs.
U.S. and Nigerian military sources confirmed that around 200 U.S. troops had deployed to Nigeria in February in part to carry out near-daily surveillance missions using MQ-9 Reaper drones to track insurgents who often move in groups on motorbikes.
The U.S. forces also include about a dozen intelligence analysts at a Nigerian military headquarters in Abuja who are helping Nigerian officials synthesize information from the drones, informants and other technical means and use that intelligence to guide Nigerian troops to their targets.
The U.S. support has led to several Nigerian-led operations across northern Nigeria, mainly in Borno, two U.S. military officials said. The operations have killed or captured dozens of militants, including some local leaders of the Islamic State, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. Last month, Nigerian forces claimed to have killed at least 80 militants in an attack on military camps.
Despite the increased pressure, the insurgents have ramped up attacks, killing hundreds of civilians and dozens of military personnel in recent months. Last week, a coordinated attack on military positions in Borno by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, normally fierce rivals, killed an army commander, Brig. Gen. Oseni Braimah, and several of his soldiers.
The Nigerian military confirmed that Saturday’s strike in Jilli targeted the same insurgent network responsible for attacks against military positions in the area. The operation was executed following intensive surveillance after the April 9 violence, said Lt. Col. Sani Uba. The military did not attribute the surveillance to U.S. forces, saying only that it was working with a number of groups.
Analysts and security experts said militants use the weekly market at Jilli to collect illegal levies, procure supplies and plan further attacks.
“In Jilli market, insurgents move freely and openly on motorcycles, often armed, overseeing transactions and maintaining control,” said Yunusa Bunu, a security analyst in Maiduguri, adding that it has for years been known locally as Kasu Daulaye, a Kanuri phrase meaning “the terrorists’ market.”
“Because of the absence of government authority in much of northern Borno, many communities have been left vulnerable, with militants effectively dictating daily life and economic activity,” Mr. Bunu added.
In telephone interviews, area residents said most of the traders and buyers at the weekly market when the airstrikes hit were civilians from surrounding communities.
The Nigerian military has faced repeated allegations over the years that some of its airstrikes have resulted in mass civilian casualties.
“They completely shield themselves from accountability,” said Mr. Sanusi of Amnesty International. “We have documented so many such airstrikes that killed civilians, and it is a pattern. They don’t want to expose their own crime.”
Ismail Alfa contributed reporting from Maiduguri, Nigeria.
Saikou Jammeh is a reporter and researcher for The Times based in Dakar, Senegal.
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