Armed "bandits" killed nine soldiers in an attack last week in an area of northwest Nigeria wracked by cattle rustling and kidnappings, military and civilian sources said Monday.

Dozens of gunmen on motorcycles on Thursday stormed a military post in the remote village of Sunke in Zamfara state and opened fire, the sources said.

"We lost nine soldiers," a senior military officer in the state capital Gusau, told AFP.

"Investigations are ongoing to unravel what really happened," said the officer, who asked not to be identified.

Residents said the bandits attacked the troops to avenge the killing of their comrades after the military raided their camps in a nearby forest.

The incident happened despite an existing truce between the gangs and the regional government, they said.

Sunke, which lies 140 kilometres (85 miles) from the regional capital Gusau, is a notorious enclave for armed gangs who are camped out in the surrounding forest.

Local resident Bube Mani said the attack was the first by bandits in the area in two months since the ceasefire began.

For several years, rural communities in the agrarian state have faced repeated attacks from cattle rustlers who have looted villages, burned homes and killed residents.

Villagers have formed vigilante groups which have also been accused of extra-judicial killings.

In July, authorities in Zamfara struck a peace deal with bandits to end the violence and surrender their weapons in exchange for amnesty.

The deal is being replicated in nearby nearby Katsina state where the government has initiated talks with the bandits to stop their attacks.

The gangs are known to have bases dotting Rugu forest which straddles Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states in northwest Nigeria.

Related Links
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Families survive on one meal in drought-hit Zimbabwe
Buhera, Zimbabwe (AFP) Oct 5, 2019
In eastern Zimbabwe's parched Buhera district, Omega Kufakunesu's family has been forced to scale down daily meals to just a portion of vegetables and sadza, a thick maize-meal porridge. In the morning only the children get the porridge, and everyone skips lunch. "During the day we have wild fruit collected by the children, and at night we have smaller portions of sadza with vegetables," harvested from the communal village garden, said Kufakunesu, sitting outside her thatched round hut. A pa ... read more