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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Poland scrambles jets, closes Lublin airport in ‘preventative’ move

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Polish and allied aircraft were deployed to protect Polish airspace on Saturday because of a threat of drone strikes in neighbouring Ukraine, and the airport in the eastern Polish city of Lublin was closed, Polish authorities said.

The Operational Command of the Polish armed forces said the planes took part in an operation near the border with Ukraine “to ensure the security of our airspace”, three days after Poland shot down Russian drones in its airspace with the backing of military aircraft from its NATO allies.

“These actions are preventative in nature and aimed at securing airspace and protecting citizens, especially in areas adjacent to the threatened area,” the Command said in the statement.

There was no mention of any violations of Polish airspace in the statement.

Poland said its airspace was violated by Russian drones overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday as Russia struck Ukraine, where it has been waging war since February 2022. Russia said it had not been targeting Poland.

The Polish Air Navigation Agency said the airport in Lublin and a controlled zone around the airport had been closed to flight operations on Saturday.

SOURCE: REUTERS AND AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/56rbxRV

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