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ConflictsNigeria

Nigeria: Many dead after military bombs village market

April 12, 2026

An airstrike on a market in Yobe, in northeastern Nigeria, has left scores of people dead and wounded, though details remain unclear. The military said it conducted a "precision" strike on a known terrorist enclave.

A Nigerian jet firing rockets during a celebration in 2017
Nigeria is engaged in long-running conflict with Islamist insurgents (file photo)Image: Sunday Alamba/AP Photo/picture alliance

Over 100 people were killed in an airstrike on a Jilli village market in northeast Nigeria, Amnesty International said on Sunday, citing survivors of the bombing.

"Witnesses said three military jets fired on the market yesterday. Emergency section of Geidam General Hospital had so far received 35 people with severe injuries," the international human rights watchdog said in an online post.

"We are in touch with people that are there, we spoke with the hospital," Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International's Nigeria director, told the AP news agency. 

"We spoke with the person in charge of casualties, and we spoke with the victims," he said. "We have their pictures and they include children," he said.

Military says it conducted a 'precision' strike near abandoned village

Meanwhile,  Nigeria's military confirmed a "precision" strike against a location in Jilli, describing the attack as a "carefully, well coordinated planned and intelligence-driven operation" against a "known terrorist enclave and logistics hub located near the abandoned village of Jilli."

The bombing apparently took place on Saturday. Nigeria is engaged in long-running clashes against Boko Haram and other jihadist groups.

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez

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Darko Janjevic Multimedia editor and reporter focusing on Eastern Europe
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