Air strikes targeting camps of gangs of cattle thieves in northwest Nigeria's Sokoto state, near the border with Niger, killed many people, local sources said Sunday.

Nigerian military jets on Saturday bombed two camps in Isa district controlled by two gangs that have carried out deadly attacks on remote villages in recent weeks, the sources said.

This was the first such attack on bandits in the region.

But heavily armed gangs of cattle thieves and kidnappers for ransom known locally as bandits have terrorised northwest and central Nigeria for years, raiding and looting villages, and attacks have intensified in recent months.

"The military conducted aerial attacks on Tsaika and Dangwandi villages, where large numbers of bandits were killed," a local administrator in Isa district said.

"It is hard to say how many were killed but the toll is quite high as the camps were strewn with corpses of the bandits," said the local official who asked not to be named.

The fighter jets struck the two camps in simultaneous attacks, leading to large-scale "human and material damage to the terrorists," a security source in the region said.

"The two camps have been scorched and dead bodies and pulverized structures litter the camps," said the security source.

- 'Graduating into terrorists' -

The news of the attack was slow to emerge due to lack of telecommunication in the area. Both sources spoke from the state capital Sokoto, 80 kilometres (50 miles) away.

Troops have been conducting ground and air offensives on bandits camps in neighbouring Zamfara state since September, and bandits fleeing the operation there have moved into neighbouring Sokoto and Katsina states.

Authorities have shut down telecom infrastructure in Zamfara and parts of Kaduna and Katsina and Sokoto states to disrupt communication between the gangs.

The air strikes come in the wake of a series of deadly attacks in the region that the authorities have blamed on bandits.

On Monday 43 people were killed when bandits invaded two communities near the border with Niger, said officials.

In October, bandits killed 43 traders when they opened fire on a market in Goronyo.

On Monday Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Sokoto state governor, warned bandits were "graduating into terrorists", echoing concern about growing ties between the criminal gangs and jihadist groups.

The gangs have increasingly turned to mass school kidnappings, having abducted more than 1,000 schoolchildren since last December.

While most of whom have been freed after ransom payments, others are still being held.

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

French army moves convoy after protests in Burkina Faso
Paris (AFP) Nov 21, 2021
France has moved a large military convoy after days of protests against its presence in a central city of Burkina Faso, the army said on Sunday. Local sources said French soldiers had shot and wounded four protesters in Kaya on Saturday - a claim the army has rejected. The army logistics convoy, which has been transiting through the city since Thursday on its way to Niger, left without difficulty on Saturday night, French army spokesman Colonel Pascal Ianni said. The decision to move the co ... read more