Dozens kidnapped in northwest Nigeria after bandits invite them to talks

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By Reuters and Posted by TOE Armed bandits in northwest Nigeria abducted dozens of villagers whom they invited to a meeting ‌about potential peace negotiations, authorities and residents said on ‌Monday, highlighting the region’s worsening security. Police said 39 people were seized on Sunday ​when they went to a meeting in the forest near Magamin Diddi village in the Maradun municipality of northwest Zamfara State. Some local residents and officials said the number could be as ‌high as 50. According to ⁠a Zamfara State Police Command statement, the victims were meeting relatives of a bandit leader in ⁠an attempt to broker peace and ease restrictions on movement imposed on the community. Zamfara is at the centre of a long-running security ​crisis in ​which armed groups, locally referred ​to as bandits, carry ‌out mass kidnappings, killings and village raids. The violence has disrupted farming and displaced thousands. Security forces have deployed personnel and...
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Al Qaeda affiliate says it killed 70 soldiers in Benin, SITE reports

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Al Qaeda affiliate JNIM said it killed 70 soldiers in raids on two military posts in north Benin, the biggest death count claimed by jihadists in the country in over a decade of activity in West Africa, the SITE Intelligence Group said on Saturday.

The West African state and its coastal neighbour Togo have suffered a series of attacks in recent years as groups linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda have expanded their presence beyond the Sahel region to the north.

Reuters news agency could not immediately confirm the report independently.

Benin’s army spokesman Ebenezer Honfoga did not respond to calls and messages.

SITE quoted a statement by Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) on Thursday saying 70 soldiers were killed in attacks on two military posts in Benin’s northeastern Kandi province in the Alibori department, more than 500 km (300 miles) from the capital Cotonou.

U.S. group SITE tracks online content from militant groups.

The Sahel insurgency took root after a Tuareg rebellion in north Mali in 2012 and spread into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger before reaching the north of coastal West African countries such as Benin more recently.

Thousands have been killed and millions displaced by the conflict, which contributed to spurring five military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger between 2020 and 2023.

Military authorities cut ties with traditional Western allies such as France and the U.S. after the coups and turned to Russia to help in fighting jihadist activity.

SOURCE: REUTERS AND AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/jcrFmvz

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