At least 10 people, including three soldiers, were killed in an attack on a village in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Zamfara. The attackers arrived on motorbikes and invaded the village of Kabasa, opening fire on the residents. “The bandits killed seven people in the village,” a Kabasa resident told AFP. Soldiers stationed in nearby Magami were deployed in the village to defend the population from armed attack. “Three soldiers were killed in the fight with the bandits,” added the man, a fact confirmed by a second witness.
Local authorities confirmed the attack, not giving an exact number of victims. Over the past decade, local criminal groups have terrorized the population in northwestern and central Nigeria. They attack villages, steal livestock and kidnap local personalities or travelers and then demand ransom. They operate hidden in the Rugu Forest, which extends across the states of Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and parts of Niger. The Nigerian army deployed to the area in 2016 and a peace agreement with some of these armed groups was signed in 2019, but the abuses continued. In recent months, these gangs have, as is known, multiplied their attacks on schools, carrying out kidnappings of entire school groups.
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