Gunmen kill 34 people in Nigeria, including 2 soldiers

Gunmen killed at least 34 people on Sunday, including two soldiers, in several attacks in northwestern Nigeria, local authorities said on Tuesday.

“Two soldiers are among the 34 people killed” in attacks by “unidentified attackers” in four locations in the Kaura area, said Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security Samuel Aruwan.

“Security agencies reported to the Kaduna state government that after thorough search operations, 34 people were confirmed dead,” he added.

One person is reported missing and seven others were injured in these attacks in the towns of Tsonje, Agban, Katanga and Kadargo, Aruwan said on Facebook.

More than 200 houses and 30 shops were set on fire during the violence, according to the authorities.

“The government is working steadily with the security forces to restore normalcy in the region,” Aruwan said.

These acts of violence are the latest in a series, accused of heavily armed gangs present in the northwest and the center, where they loot, kidnap and kill residents.

On the same Sunday, 16 people were killed in other attacks in neighboring Zamfara State.

At the beginning of January, more than 200 people lost their lives under similar circumstances in the State of Zamfara.

Criminal violence in the northwestern and central states of Nigeria is just one of the challenges facing the authorities, who are also fighting a jihadist insurrection for 12 years in the northeast and against separatist tensions in the southeast.

In early March, gunmen killed at least 57 members of a local self-defense group in clashes in Kebbi State (northwest), which was condemned by President Muhammadu Buhari as a “brutal assassination”.

The 79-year-old former general is heavily criticized for his inability to stop widespread insecurity in the country.

Local residents have created makeshift units, known as Yansakai, to protect villages from bandits' offensives, although several states banned them after being accused of extrajudicial crimes.

These groups often face criminal gangs

Security experts have warned that gangs, driven by financial interests, are forging alliances with jihadists in northeastern Nigeria.

The security forces say that they bomb and attack the hiding places in the jungle of criminals and that the authorities last year cut off telecommunications in some northwestern states to prevent communication between them.

Nigerian criminal gangs have made international news when they attacked schools and kidnapped students to demand ransom from communities.

The violence of armed gangs has its origin in the intercommunity struggles for territory and resources between farmers and nomadic livestock breeders.

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