AT LEAST 100 people, including children, have died after a Nigerian air force strike hit a local market, officials confirmed today.

Amnesty International cited survivors for the deaths in the air strike on Saturday on a village in Yobe state.

“We have their pictures and they include children,” the group’s Nigeria director Isa Sanusi said.

A worker at the nearby Geidam General Hospital said that at least 23 people injured in the incident were receiving treatment.

Such misfires are common in Nigeria, where the military often conducts air raids against armed groups.

At least 500 civilians have died since 2017 in such misfires.

Security analysts point to loopholes in intelligence gathering as well as insufficient co-ordination between ground troops, air assets and stakeholders.

The large, remote market located near the Borno-Yobe border is known to be often used by Boko Haram jihadis to buy food supplies.

The local government confirmed that a military strike was targeting a stronghold of Boko Haram in the area and that “some people who went to the Jilli weekly market were affected.”

The Yobe State Emergency Management Agency also acknowledged an incident, resulting in “casualties affecting some marketers.”

Nigeria’s military issued a statement saying it conducted a successful strike on a “terrorist enclave and logistics hub,” killing scores of jihadists as they rode on motorcycles.

It did not provide any detail about a possible misfire, but noted that motorcycles remain prohibited in conflict hot spots.

Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation into the incident, adding that the military is “fond of” labelling civilian casualties as bandits.