Dozens of people were reported to have died in recent airstrikes in Nigeria's northeastern Yobe state, specifically in the village of Jilli, as military aircraft pursued jihadists. The incident, which occurred on a Saturday according to local residents and Amnesty International, has sparked differing accounts of casualties.

Amnesty International reported over 100 fatalities and 35 seriously wounded individuals on X, while local chief Lawan Zanna Nur stated that the total casualties, including dead and injured, were around 200, with at least eight more wounded individuals dying in hospitals in Geidam and Maiduguri by Sunday. A market committee member, Bulama Mulima Abbas, counted 36 bodies following the airstrike on traders. An intelligence source indicated that the Jilli market is wholly controlled by Boko Haram, which provides security and collects taxes from traders.

The Nigerian military, in its statement, confirmed striking a location in Jilli, describing it as a "major terrorist movement corridor and convergence point for Islamic State West Africa Province terrorists and their collaborators." The military characterized the operation as a "carefully, well coordinated planned and intelligence-driven operation" that "successfully conducted a precision air strike on a known terrorist enclave and logistics hub located near the abandoned village of Jilli." It claimed "scores of terrorists" were killed, without mentioning any civilian casualties.

Africa's most populous country has been embroiled in a jihadist insurgency for 17 years, originating with Boko Haram's uprising in 2009. This conflict has seen the rise of powerful splinter groups, including Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Civilians have frequently been caught in the crossfire and have been killed in military air strikes targeting militants, though authorities sometimes dispute these civilian casualties. The violence, while having slowed from its peak around 2015, has seen Boko Haram and ISWAP recently intensify their attacks in northeastern Nigeria, aiming to establish a caliphate. The insurgency has led to over 40,000 deaths and displaced approximately two million people, according to the United Nations.

In response to the ongoing conflict, the United States began deploying 200 troops to Nigeria earlier this year to provide technical and training support to soldiers engaged in fighting jihadist groups. Furthermore, Nigeria's Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, announced that nearly 400 people had been convicted for terrorism and terrorism financing in a recent series of mass trials. Out of 508 cases brought, 386 convictions were secured, with 8 discharges, 2 acquittals, and 112 cases adjourned to a subsequent phase.