Dozens of civilians were killed on Sunday night in Kaduna state of northern Nigeria from a drone strike during a military operation against jihadists and gangs operating in the area.

Governor Uba Sani said many Muslims participating in an event to celebrate Mawlid (the day commemorating the birth of the Prophet Muhammad) in the village of Tudun Biri “were accidentally killed and others injured after an attack by a military drone that was operating against terrorists and bandits”. Although he did not give a specific number of victims, a religious leader told the Reuters news agency that at least 50 people had been killed, while an eyewitness said about 80 bodies had been buried.

“More than 50 innocent civilians who had gathered to celebrate Mawlid lost their lives in the shelling,” the sheikh said. Rabiu Abdullahi.

“We counted over 80 bodies” during the burial, said villager Abubakar Inua. One of the injured who was taken to a hospital, Danjuma Salisu, said that the worshipers heard the aircraft flying in the area and shortly afterwards there was a powerful explosion.

The majority of the victims were women and children, Hassan Maarouf told Agence France-Presse (AFP), sharing photos of bodies.

A security official in Kaduna state told reporters that at a meeting convened to clarify the causes of the deadly tragedy, a representative of the Nigerian armed forces admitted that a military drone had inadvertently hit civilians. “Major Okoro explained that the Nigerian Army was on a mission against terrorists but inadvertently hit members of the community,” said Samuel Arwan after the meeting concluded.

This is not the first time that civilians have fallen victim to bombings by the Nigerian army.

In September 2021, more than 20 fishermen were killed and several others injured by an airstrike during an operation against jihadists in Lake Chad.

In July 2019, thirteen civilians were killed by an airstrike in the village of Gatzigana, in an operation against jihadists fleeing after an attack on a nearby military base.

In January 2017, at least 112 people were killed when fighter jets bombed a camp housing 40,000 displaced people near the border with Cameroon.

The jihadist insurgency and operations to suppress it in northeastern Nigeria have claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people and forcibly displaced more than 2 million others since 2009.