Last week, two drone strikes in northern Nigeria killed at least 85 people celebrating a Muslim holiday in a village. In June, dozens of herdsmen and their livestock were hit from the air in the state adjacent to the country’s capital. And in 2017, around 100 people were killed in an air raid on a refugee camp in the northeast of the country.

As the Nigerian military wages a domestic war against extremist militants and armed gangs, the widespread use of airstrikes on its own soil has led to a cascade of more than a dozen accidents in the past six years that have killed hundreds of civilians, according to the security service became analysts.

The repeated mistakes raise pressing questions for the United States, which trains and equips the Nigerian military and views Nigeria as a key ally in a region of Africa marked by widespread insecurity and coups.

The Dec. 3 attack on a village where hundreds of worshipers gathered at night for a festive Muslim holiday highlighted the shortcomings of West Africa’s largest military. Analysts say the problems include mismanagement, faulty intelligence gathering and a lack of coordination between the various branches of the country’s security apparatus.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has for years faced multiple security threats simultaneously, from Boko Haram insurgents in the northeast to armed gangs known as bandits across the north who steal, kill or kidnap civilians for ransom. The northern state of Kaduna, where the attack on the village took place, was a key target for these gangs.

“The fundamental problem that U.S. and Nigerian leaders refuse to acknowledge is that warplanes — drones, fighter jets — are not a tool of policing,” said Matthew Page, a former State Department expert on Nigeria and now an associate Fellow at Chatham House. a British research group.

“Western democracies do not use air strikes as a policing tool at home, and the reason is: because they cause disproportionate damage,” he said.

The Nigerian military did not respond to questions about systemic problems. But Christopher Gwabin Musa, Nigeria’s defense chief, spoke out last week about the bombing of the celebration. He called it a “sad and unfortunate incident” that occurred because the military received a tip-off and observed movement indicating a terrorist attack.

Although many in Nigeria have become accustomed to these accidental killings, the attack on Tudun Biri, a village in Kaduna, was one too many, analysts said.

Last week, demonstrators stormed the National Assembly. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria called for “a thorough and comprehensive investigation” implicated in an attack he described as “unacceptable.” The army quickly admitted responsibility, saying it mistook the crowd for a gathering of terrorists.

“They were Nigerians of deep faith and recited the Shahada at the moment of tragedy,” Mr. Tinubu said, referring to the Islamic creed, at a military conference on Monday. “May their souls rest in eternal peace.”

But two residents said in interviews that police and local authorities were aware of the religious gathering. And residents said there was a second attack shortly after the first, just as they rushed to rescue the victims, a claim that was reflected in witness statements collected by Human rights Organizations.

Hundreds of believers had gathered in the central square of Tudun Biri this Sunday to set up canopies and speakers as well as mats and chairs for the Mawlid holiday. Unable to find accommodation, many had planned to spend the night in the square.

Ahmadu Musa, a 37-year-old farmer, said he had left the celebration early to rest from a stomach infection when he heard a jet hovering over his village, followed by a loud bang that felt like an earthquake.

At the sight of billowing smoke and a thick fire, Mr Musa rushed to the square where one of his two wives, five children and many relatives were attending the celebration, he said. He found his wife and children dead, while other members of his family could only be identified by their clothing, their bodies unrecognizable.

At least 85 people were killed and dozens more injured, according to Nigeria’s main emergency relief agency. The attack was the deadliest since 2017, when about 100 people were killed in the bombing of a camp run by Doctors Without Borders containing 40,000 refugees.

Nigerian security forces have purchased attack drones from China and Turkey and have increasingly resorted to airstrikes to target Boko Haram insurgents and criminal gangs, according to security analysts.

Before this month’s attack, more than 300 people had been killed in airstrikes by the Nigerian military since 2017, according to a tally by SBM Intelligence, a Nigerian risk consulting firm.

Analysts say it has faced almost no accountability.

“Given Nigeria is infested with terrorists, the military is being given a lot of leeway,” said Confidence MacHarry, security analyst at SBM Intelligence. “The lack of accountability fuels the culture of impunity.”

An American official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence assessments, said an initial U.S. assessment concluded that the Nigerian army drone used in the attack was of Turkish origin. However, Pentagon officials said they had no information about the incident and referred questions to the Nigerian military.

Two independent Nigerians Analysis company said the drone used was most likely a Turkish-made drone Bayraktar TB2an attack drone popular in Ukraine and various African militaries such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, among others.

Nigerian soldiers have been training alongside African troops in exercises sponsored by the Pentagon. And last year, the Biden administration approved one Attack helicopter deal worth nearly $1 billion with Nigeria.

But for more than a decade, U.S. officials have also regularly raised serious concerns about alleged human rights abuses by Nigerian forces. A General Report of an Inspector of the Department of Foreign Affairs In 2013, for example, it was found that of 1,377 Nigerian soldiers screened to receive American training the year before, 211 were rejected or suspended due to human rights concerns.

American officials said they were encouraged by Mr. Tinubu’s call last week for an investigation into the attacks. But some former U.S. diplomats and senior military officials expressed doubt that any senior official would be held accountable or that it would lead to improved training, given the Nigerian military’s lack of transparency.

Earlier this year, two congressmen urged called on the Biden administration to cancel the helicopter deal with Nigeria, citing human rights violations Forced abortions And indiscriminate killings.

J. Peter Pham, a former U.S. special envoy to the Sahel region, which includes sub-Saharan countries, said the Tudun Biri incident underscored the difficulties of buying weapons from sellers such as China and Turkey. The purchases, Mr. Pham said, “may be more readily available or cheaper, but rarely come with the intensive training that Western, particularly U.S., packages entail.”

But Mr. Page, the former State Department analyst, argued that Nigeria itself received far less training as part of the nearly $1 billion helicopter deal than initially announced by U.S. politicians and diplomats.

During a visit to Tudun Biri last week, Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima promised to build houses, schools and clinics. Some senators pledged to donate their December salaries to the community. But few expect lasting change, said Mr. MacHarry, the security analyst.

In Tudun Biri, one day after the strike, Mr Musa buried his wife and five children at the local cemetery. Unidentifiable victims were buried in a mass grave.

“We are collecting the remaining pieces of our lives,” Mr Musa said, adding that several families had left the village for fear of another attack.

Pius Adeleye contributed reporting from Ilorin, Nigeria.