A gunman attacked a jail in Nigeria’s Oyo State late Friday, forcefully freeing some 800 inmates, the majority of which remained missing on Saturday, Reuters reported. Officials said the attackers used dynamite to explode the walls and enter through the prison yard after exchanging gunfire with prison officers, the news service reported. All but 64 convicts escaped in the attack, about 575 inmates were missing and 262 others had been recaptured, the prison service said on Saturday. All of the missing detainees were awaiting trial. “While all the awaiting trial detainees were forced out of custody, the cells housing the convicts and … Continue reading Nigerian gunmen storm prison, freeing 800 inmates

Nigerian security agents on Thursday rescued 187 people who had been abducted by armed gangs in the northwestern state of Zamfara, police said, after authorities launched a sweeping security operation against the kidnappers. Since December last year, Zamfara has been at the centre of often violent kidnappings by heavily armed bandits who have targeted schools, villages and people travelling on highways for ransom. The government last month shut telecommunication services in Zamfara. Mohammed Shehu, the police spokesman for Zamfara, said in a statement that the 187 people, including women and children, had been seized by kidnappers from four local government … Continue reading Great News: Nigeria rescues 187 people from kidnappers

Gunmen in Nigeria have freed a number of pupils who were kidnapped from an Islamic school in May, according to their head teacher. Some 136 students from the school in Tegina, Niger state, were seized by gunmen demanding a ransom. School officials say 15 students escaped in June and a further six died while in captivity. Mass abductions for ransom have become increasingly common across Nigeria in recent months. Head teacher Abubakar Alhassan said he could not give an exact number of how many students have been freed, but “none of the pupils are in captivity”. He told AFP news … Continue reading Gunmen free kidnapped schoolchildren in Nigeria

Gunmen have attacked Nigeria’s elite military academy, killing two officers and kidnapping another in a brazen assault on a symbol of the armed forces. The raid on Tuesday on the Nigerian Defence Academy, the country’s main officer training school, is a major blow for a military already struggling with an armed uprising and heavily armed criminal gangs. “The security architecture of the Nigerian Defence Academy was compromised early this morning by unknown gunmen,” said Major Bashir Muhammad Jajira, spokesman for the academy in the northwestern state of Kaduna. “We lost two personnel and one was abducted.” Various army units and … Continue reading Officers killed in attack on Nigeria’s elite military academy

At least 16 people have been killed in an attack on a village in southwestern Niger where attackers have repeatedly massacred civilians this year, a local official and a security source said. The unidentified gunmen opened fire during Friday prayers in the village of Theim in the Tillaberi region and killed 16 people, Mayor Halido Zibo told Reuters news agency on Saturday. A security source confirmed the attack and put the death toll at 17. The attack follows the killing on Monday of 37 civilians, including 14 children, in a village in the same region. Thiem is about 20km (12 miles) … Continue reading More than dozen killed in southwest Niger village attack

Rebel fighters have killed dozens of people in northern Burkina Faso, as violence spirals anew in West Africa’s Sahel region. In an attack near the northern town of Arbinda on Wednesday, rebels killed at least 47 people, including 30 civilians, 14 soldiers and three pro-government militiamen, state media reported. State media reported that government troops killed 16 rebels while a security source put the number at 58. Fighters linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL regularly carry out attacks in Burkina Faso and neighbouring Mali and Niger, killing hundreds of civilians this year alone. Violence in the Sahel, a semi-arid band beneath … Continue reading Dozens killed in northern Burkina Faso rebel attack

Rwandan forces deployed last month to help Mozambique’s army battle rebels said on Sunday they have recaptured control of the key northern port of Mocimboa da Praia from the armed group. “The port city of Mocimboa da Praia, a major stronghold of the insurgency for more than two years has been captured by Rwandan and Mozambican security forces,” the Rwanda Defence Forces said in a tweet. Forces’ spokesman Colonel Ronald Rwivanga confirmed this to the AFP news agency, saying “yes [Mocimboa da Praia] has fallen”. The port town, from where the first rebel attacks were staged in October 2017, has … Continue reading Update: Rwanda, Mozambique forces recapture port city from rebels

Four people have been killed after militants attacked the home of the Afghan defence minister. Bismillah Khan Mohammadi was not at home on Tuesday as gunmen detonated a car bomb and fired shots near Kabul’s heavily fortified Green Zone. His family was safely evacuated and the attackers killed. The attack comes as fighting continues in other key Afghan cities, with the UN Security Council calling for an immediate end to the violence. Security officials told the AFP news agency that four people had been killed in the attack, while Italian medical charity Emergency confirmed that 11 people who had been … Continue reading Gunmen attack home of Afghan defence minister in Kabul

An Afghan general has warned of “devastating” consequences for global security if the Taliban win in their fight against government forces. General Sami Sadat is leading the battle against the Taliban in the southern province of Helmand, where intense fighting has broken out in its capital Lashkar Gah. The Taliban have seized districts in the city centre. But Gen Sadat said he was confident the group would not take the city. He told reporters that while ground had been lost, he believed the Taliban would be unable to sustain their assault. However, he said the Taliban were being reinforced by … Continue reading Only a Matter of Time: Afghan General says Taliban gains threaten global security

Armed men on motorbikes have killed at least 14 civilians in an attack in western Niger, near the restive border with Mali, the government said. The attack happened on Sunday at approximately 3pm (14:00 GMT), when the unidentified assailants arrived at the village of Wiye in the Banibangou district, about 50km (30 miles) from the border with Mali. They “targeted civilians, killing 14, including nine working in fields”, the interior ministry said in a statement read on national television on Monday. One person who was wounded had been evacuated for treatment in the capital, Niamey, it added. Security measures had … Continue reading Gunmen on motorbikes raid Niger village, kill 14

Gunmen who seized 121 students at a high school in northwestern Nigeria in early July have released another 28 teenagers, a school official said. The attackers stormed Bethel Baptist High School in northwestern Kaduna State on July 5, abducting students who were sleeping in their dorms. The kidnapping was the latest by heavily-armed gangs, known locally as bandits, who have long plagued northwest and central Nigeria by looting, stealing cattle and abducting for ransom, but have lately targeted schools and colleges. Joseph Hayab, one of the senior officials at Bethel Baptist High School, told AFP news agency on Sunday that … Continue reading Kidnappers release another 28 abducted children in Nigeria

Intense gunfire from bandits caused a Nigerian fighter jet to crash in northwestern Zamfara state, but the pilot survived by ejecting from the aircraft. Nigeria’s air force said on Monday the crash occurred on Sunday as the Alpha jet, a light attack aircraft, was returning to base from a mission on the Zamfara-Kaduna border. The jet “came under intense enemy fire which led to its crash”, an air force statement said, but pilot Abayomi Dairo successfully ejected. “Luckily, the gallant pilot … successfully ejected from the aircraft,” air force spokesman Edward Gabkwet said. “Using his survival instincts, the pilot, who … Continue reading Nigerian fighter jet shot down by bandits, pilot survives