Nigeria has ordered ‌a full and independent investigation into a military airstrike on a market that left at least 200 people feared dead, while defending the operation that it said targeted ​militants based in an enclave controlled by insurgents.

Saturday’s airstrike is the ​latest to have caused heavy civilian casualties in northeast Nigeria, where ⁠battlelines are blurred.

As militants control territories, markets and supply routes, while ​civilians move through restricted areas for survival, rights groups have warned strikes ​on contested spaces carry a high risk of killing bystanders.

Information Minister Mohammed Idris expressed regret for civilian casualties but said the Air Force hit “confirmed terrorist targets” in Jilli village, ​a high-risk no-go zone in Gubio district that has for years served ​as a logistics hub for Boko Haram and Islamic State offshoot, ISWAP, in the ‌region.

“The ⁠Federal Government reiterates that this was a deliberate, intelligence-led operation, not an indiscriminate attack, conducted in one of the most active insurgent corridors in the northeast,” Idris said in a statement late on Tuesday.

He said the investigation ​would look into the ​operation’s planning and ⁠execution.

Authorities said Jilli, known locally as the “terrorists’ market”, and the nearby Gazabure market were shut about five years ​ago after militants took control, with intelligence showing the ​area was ⁠used to collect levies, buy supplies, and plan attacks, including assaults on April 9 in Ngamdu and Benisheikh that killed a general.

–Reuters–