No fewer than 22 persons, including four soldiers, have been reported killed by bandits along the Gwashi-Nassarawa axis of Bukkuyum Local Council Area of Zamfara State.

Guardian also learnt that three communities in the Dansadau axis of Maru Local Council Area of the state have been displaced after notorious bandits unleashed several terror attacks on them.

It was gathered that over 400 community members of the affected communities have deserted the area following separate attacks on the three villages, during which over 12 vehicles were set ablaze.

The bandits were also said to have imposed a N50 million levy on the communities, irrespective of the destruction already wrought there.

Meanwhile, the military said the Nigerian Air Force killed over 40 Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters, including a prominent commander, in an airstrike on a terrorist enclave in Borno State.

Military Information Officer at the Headquarters of the Joint Task Force (North East), Operation Hadin Kai, Capt. Mohammed Goni, disclosed this in a statement yesterday, adding that the strike also destroyed two vehicles and about 20 motorcycles used by the terrorists for mobility, logistics and offensive operations.

According to Goni, the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai conducted aerial surveillance, identified terrorist movements around suspected hideouts and logistics facilities, and preliminary human intelligence and battle damage assessment indicate that over 40 terrorists, including a prominent ISWAP Qaid (commander), were neutralised in the strike.

Confirming the Zamfara killings, the lawmaker representing Bukkuyum in the House of Assembly, Hamisu Faru, said the terrorists ambushed the victims on Sunday while the soldiers were on duty in the area. He added that the bodies of some of the victims were yet to be recovered as of the time of filing this report.

Also, the Media Information Officer of Operation Fansan Yamma (OPFY), Lt.-Col. Aliyu Danja, confirmed the report to newsmen in Gusau yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Zamfara State chapter of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has condemned the attacks, lamenting the further deterioration of security in the state.

In a statement by State Publicity Secretary, Kassim Kayatawa, the party called on the federal and Zamfara governments to urgently deploy more security personnel to vulnerable communities in Dansadau, Bukkuyum and other flashpoints in the state.

The airstrike, conducted on October 10, targeted the terrorists’ hideout at Badu Village, south of Gudumbali in Guzamala Local Council Area, following intelligence that the insurgents were preparing coordinated attacks on troops in the North-East.

According to the report, the fighters belonged to ISWAP’s Murabitun element – a specialised mobile fighting unit responsible for patrols, coordinating attacks and sustaining the group’s activities in the area. (The Guardian)