The Nigerian army says it has killed more than 100 members of a criminal gang during coordinated air and ground operations over the weekend in Zamfara State, according to a United Nations conflict monitoring report.
The report said troops ambushed a bandit camp in the Makakari forest, killing over 100 fighters in the latest clash between security forces and armed gangs known locally as “bandits” in the troubled northwest.
The operation followed a mass abduction earlier in the week, when gunmen kidnapped more than 50 people in northwest Nigeria. On Friday, armed bandits also attacked the village of Sabon Garin Damri in Zamfara, continuing a pattern of raids involving kidnappings for ransom, looting, and extortion that has plagued the region for years.