KANO, Nigeria, Oct 13, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Nigerian military jets have carried 
out air strikes on a gathering of bandit militias, killing around 100 gunmen 
in the country's northwest, two army sources with knowledge of the operation 
and local residents said.

Nigeria's air force confirmed it had carried out bombardments in northwestern 
Zamfara State on Tuesday, but a spokesman said he could not yet provide 
details on the numbers killed.

Northwestern and central Nigerian states have for years been terrorised by 
gangs, known locally as bandits, who raid villages and kill and abduct 
residents for ransom in rural areas where state presence is weak.

The gangs, notorious for mass kidnappings from schools and colleges in recent 
years, maintain camps hidden in a vast forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, 
Kaduna and Niger states.

"Fighter jets conducted air strikes on bandits, I'm sure more than 100 were 
killed and almost twice that number were badly injured," one of the military 
officers involved in the operation said.

Another military official also confirmed a similar number. Both spoke to AFP 
anonymously because they were not authorised to speak about the operation.

Two local residents who described the bodies after the strikes also gave 
similar numbers.

Fighters from seven of the most active gangs had converged in an area on the 
border between Zamfara, Kebbi and Niger states with the intent of attacking 
villages and a nearby military base, according to the officers.

"Timely intelligence report was received and surveillance was conducted which 
determined their location and movement before fighter jets were deployed," 
the first officer said.

When asked for details, Nigerian air force spokesman Commodore Edward Gabkwet 
confirmed the air strikes.

"But I can't confirm numbers to you," he said.

- Ties with jihadists -

The bandits riding motorcycles were intercepted by the fighter jets at Dan 
Mani village in Sangeko district on the fringes of Kuyan Bana forest where 
they were bombarded, the second military officer said.

"Dead bodies, which were badly burnt, littered the bushes. They were so many 
that the bandits abandoned many to make room for the evacuation of the 
injured," the officer said.

"We don't have an exact number of the casualties but the dead were more than 
100," he said.

The air strike was the second most intensive aerial operation against bandits 
in Zamfara since 2015 when the military deployed to fight the gangs.

Usman Tukur, a resident of Kuyan Bana area where the air strike was carried 
out, told AFP that dozens of bodies were left around the area after the 
bombardment.

"They were bombarded by fighter jets and a huge number were killed. Those who 
survived were seen fleeing with their injured comrades through villages in 
the area," he said.

"From our estimation, those killed were more than 100."

Another resident Mustapha Sarki Kaya gave a similar account, saying locals 
had seen the bandits burying their dead.

Nigerian officials have struggled to end the violence in the northwest and 
several peace deals and amnesties with the bandit militias have failed to 
work.

Although the bandits are motivated by financial gain with no ideological 
leaning, authorities and security analysts are worried by the increasing ties 
with jihadists waging a 14-year armed insurgency in Nigeria.