Abuja: Nigeria's air force killed at least 35 people in attacks on villages in the northeastern state of Adamawa in December, Amnesty International said in a report on Tuesday.

Residents of the villages described being fired upon by a fighter jet and military helicopter as they attempted to flee, at the same time as hundreds of herdsmen took part in a revenge attack on the communities for earlier killings, Amnesty said.

"Launching air raids is not a legitimate law enforcement method by anyone's standard," said Osai Ojigho, Amnesty's country director for Nigeria, in Tuesday's report.

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"Such reckless use of deadly force is unlawful, outrageous and lays bare the Nigerian military's shocking disregard for the lives of those it supposedly exists to protect," she said.