Bandits in Nigeria ambush and kill 21 government-backed fighters – INA NEWS

At the very least 21 government-backed fighters have been killed in an ambush by bandits in Nigeria’s northwest Katsina State, in response to authorities.

Katsina police spokesman Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu advised the AFP information company on Saturday {that a} convoy of pro-government fighters was getting back from paying condolences to the household of a lifeless colleague when it got here underneath fireplace from bandits within the village of Baure, within the Safana district.

“Sadly, 21 individuals had been fatally shot on account of the assault,” Aliyu mentioned, including police had been in search of to “make sure the arrest of the perpetrators” of the assault, which occurred on Tuesday.

Witnesses, nonetheless, advised Nigeria’s Premium Occasions that as many as 25 folks had been killed within the assault, whereas many extra villagers stay lacking.

Nigeria’s The Guardian mentioned the fighters had been members of the state-backed Katsina Group Watch Corps (KCWC).

The newspaper additionally quoted Aliyu as saying police have been deployed to the realm of the assault to assist restore order.

Katsina is certainly one of a number of states in northwestern and central Nigeria stricken by bandits who raid villages, killing and abducting residents in addition to burning and looting houses.

In June 2024, no less than seven folks had been killed and 100 kidnapped when gunmen attacked a rural group within the state.

The gangs, who preserve camps in an enormous forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states, have earned notoriety for mass kidnappings of scholars from colleges lately.

Nigeria’s Boko Haram group has additionally carried out assaults and abductions within the state.

In 2023, Katsina State Governor Dikko Umar Radda established the KCWC power comprising about 2,000 folks to help the army and police in combating the gangs.