Militants kill soldiers in Nigeria ambush

The security forces were attacked while acting on intelligence about a planned raid in Kebbi state, officials have said

Armed militants ambushed security forces in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Kebbi, killing at least nine soldiers, a police officer and a civilian, the West African country’s authorities have said.

The troops were responding to a distress call about an impending bandit raid in Shanga area late Tuesday when they were lured into a deadly ambush in Giron Masa village, Kebbi state government spokesman Yahaya Sarki said.

Several other personnel were wounded and a military vehicle was destroyed in the assault, according to a statement released on Wednesday.

State Governor Nasir Idris described the attack as a “very sad and painful development” after visiting the scene.

“This is a great loss not only to the security agencies but to the entire people of Kebbi state,” Idris said during a visit to injured personnel, pledging “maximum support” to security agencies operating in the state.

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No group has yet claimed responsibility, but residents and officials have linked recent violence in the area to Lakurawa, an Islamic State-affiliated faction that has expanded operations in Kebbi and the neighboring Sokoto state.

Northwest Nigeria has faced years of attacks by armed bandits involved in mass killings, kidnappings, and cattle rustling.

The attack is the latest incident of escalating violence across Africa’s most populous nation. The security crisis has persisted despite the US deploying personnel to support training and counterinsurgency efforts, while accusing Abuja of failing to prevent violence against Christian communities.

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Last week, 23 people were killed and 108 injured in a series of suspected suicide bomb attacks in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, which lies at the center of a long-running insurgency by Boko Haram and its rival offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province.

Days earlier, ten residents of the Christian village of Turan, including two parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Church, were killed in a raid reportedly carried out by Islamist militants. Last month, more than 160 people were killed in attacks in Kwara state.