By Olawale Lamina
Against alleged claims that air strike on Tumfa market in Zurmi Local Government Area in Zamfara state, targeted at bandits resulted in civilian casualties, the Defence Headquarters has declared that no “credible” or “substantiated” evidence exists to back the allegation.
The AFP had reported that at least 72 people were killed following Sunday’s missile attack.
In a controversial report, the newswire, cited a community leader, who claimed that some victims’ bodies were “blown beyond recognition” in the cause of the missile launch on the location.
The AFP quoted one Garba Ibrahim Mashema, as saying “The actual death toll is hard to establish at the moment. Everybody, residents and bandits, goes to the market. People are at the mercy of the bandits. There is nothing they can do.”
In its assessment, Amnesty International had said the death toll from the incident had increased to more than 100, including the fact that scores of injured victims were receiving treatment after the strike.
The rights group also claimed that one of the affected villages buried 80 people at once.
“The actual death toll is hard to establish at the moment. Everybody, residents and bandits, goes to the market. People are at the mercy of the bandits. There is nothing they can do,” Garba Ibrahim Mashema.
Reacting to divergent report about the aerial strike, spokesperson for the Defence Headquarters, Michael Onoja, debunked the claims that civilians were affected by the operation.
According to the Director of Defence Media Operations, the strike was carried out in line with international humanitarian law and targeted a “confirmed high-level gathering” of militant leaders in the village, based on multi-sourced intelligence.
He said: “No credible, substantiated evidence of civilian casualties has been established through any official assessment or independent verification,” Onoja said, noting that the sheer nature of the operation made immediate casualty verification difficult.
However, Onoja argued that that a post-strike assessment showed that “several terrorists were neutralised”.
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