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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Sustained gunfire, loud blasts heard in Niger’s capital

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Sustained gunfire and loud blasts were ​heard early on Thursday near ‌Niamey International Airport in Niger, according to ‌a Reuters witness.

The heavy gunfire, which began nearly an hour earlier, was ongoing as of 0012 GMT, ⁠the witness ‌said.

A video shared on social media platform X appeared ‍to show the city’s night skyline illuminated by gunfire, though Reuters has not ​independently verified the footage.

A spokesperson ‌for Niger’s military government, which seized power in a July 2023 coup, was not immediately available for comment.

The Sahel West African nation, like ⁠neighbouring Mali and ​Burkina Faso, has ​struggled to contain attacks from jihadist groups with links to ‍al Qaeda ⁠and Islamic State, that have killed thousands and displaced millions ⁠in the three nations.

SOURCE: REUTERS AND AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/h25fWSx

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