About 200 people have been killed in attacks in northwestern Nigeria, residents say, according to Reuters

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) – 200 or more people have been killed in villages in northwestern Zamfara state this week in retaliatory attacks by armed bandits in their hiding places as a result of military airstrikes, residents said on Saturday.

Residents gained access to the villages on Saturday to organize mass burials after the military captured the community, Reuters was told. The state government said 58 people were killed in the attacks.

Ummaru Makeri, a neighbor who lost his wife and three children in the attack, said about 154 people were buried, including several persecutors who were killed. Residents said the death toll was at least 200.

Reuters reported on Friday that at least 30 people had been killed in the local government area of ​​Anka in Zamfara when more than 300 armed bandits on motorcycles were attacked and shot dead in eight villages on Tuesday.

The military said it had carried out airstrikes in the early hours of Monday against targets in the Gusami forest in Zamfara state and in the western village of Tsamre, killing more than 100 bandits including two of their leaders, according to intelligence reports.

A neighbor who refused to identify himself told Reuters that attacks on villages could be linked to military strikes.

There have been a number of attacks in northwestern Nigeria, and since the end of 2020 there has been a sharp rise in mass kidnappings and other violent crimes as the government struggles to maintain law and order.

In a separate incident, 30 students abducted from Kebbi State University in northwestern Nigeria were released on Saturday, a spokesman for the Kebbi governor said without giving details.

President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement on Saturday that the military had acquired more equipment to search and eliminate the criminal groups that are plaguing the people, including the illegal imposition of taxes on the besieged communities.

“The latest attack on innocent people against Balapur is an act of desperation by mass murderers, now under the relentless pressure of our military forces,” Buhari said.

Buhari added that the government would not allow him to be involved in military operations to get rid of bandits.