Nigerian airstrikes kill 13 civilians, military disputes deaths

JOS: Airstrikes in central Nigeria at the weekend killed 13 civilians, local sources told AFP on Monday, in an attack the military said killed 70 "bandit" gang members.

The strikes took place in Niger state's Shiroro local government area, home to known hideouts for a Boko Haram jihadist faction as well as non-ideological "bandit" gangs that raid villages and impose taxes in areas with little government control.

The military denied reports of civilian casualties in the town of Kusasu, though said it would investigate.

"On Sunday, an airstrike by the Nigeria airforce targeting terrorists hideout in Kusasu settlement has mistakenly fell on people and killed about 13," Shiroro local government council chairman Isyaku Bawa told AFP.

"It was not intentional. I commiserate with the family of the victims," he said.

A local resident who lost his daughter and two other family members told AFP they buried 13 bodies.

"Others that were injured have been taken to hospital," he said.

"My own daughter, my elder brother's daughter and my elder sister were all killed."

Another resident, John Ezra, said the villagers were "not close to the hideout of the terrorists but our homes were bombed."

He confirmed the toll at 13.

In a statement over the weekend, the military said it had "conducted multiple airstrikes on different bandit locations including Katerma, Bokko, Kusasu and Kuduru villages."

"About 70 bandits were hit and killed in Kusasu," said Defence Headquarters spokesman Major General Michael Onoja.

Onoja said that "all civilian communities within the general area" had "voluntarily relocated" ahead of the strikes.

"This fact alone fundamentally undermines the claim that innocent residents were present in the strike zones," he said.

"Nonetheless, relevant military formations have been directed to verify the allegations of civilian casualties, if any."

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in airstrikes during Nigeria's 17-year war against jihadists, as well as its separate campaign against bandit gangs.

On Sunday, a Nigerian militia member told AFP that dozens of fishermen were feared dead after continuous strikes by Chadian forces since Friday on Lake Chad.

The lake straddles the two countries and its marshy environs provide hideouts for both Boko Haram and rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) militants.

In April, the Nigerian military struck a crowded market in Jilli, on the border of northeastern Yobe and Borno states, killing at least 56 people, many of them civilians.

The government ordered an investigation but no updates have been made public.