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Nigeria Orders Independent Probe After Deadly Airstrike on Jilli Market

The order signals a shift after officials first framed the strike as a successful hit on militants.

Overview

  • The airstrike, which hit Jilli’s weekly market on Saturday, left at least 56 dead according to a UN memo, while Amnesty says 100 or more and local leaders report about 200 dead and injured.
  • Information Minister Mohammed Idris said Tuesday the federal government has ordered a full, independent investigation and the air force has already sent its civilian harm team to the site.
  • The military says the operation was an intelligence-driven, precision strike on an Islamic State West Africa Province logistics hub near the abandoned village of Jilli.
  • Survivors and hospital staff in Geidam and Maiduguri describe dozens of people with blast wounds, and Amnesty says children are among the dead.
  • The strike revives concerns about civilian protection in a 17-year insurgency where past air operations have killed hundreds of noncombatants and where markets double as economic lifelines and militant resupply points.