Voice 9, International Desk: The military said on Thursday that at least 36 Nigerian troops had been killed in two attacks while participating in operations against armed gangs in the northern-central state of Niger.
In the last two years, gangs of highly armed men have wreaked havoc across northwest Nigeria, kidnapping thousands, killing hundreds, and rendering certain places unsuitable for road traffic or farming.
Three officers, 22 troops, and seven soldiers were injured in an ambush that took place on August 14 in the vicinity of Kundu village in the Shiroro local government region of Niger state, according to Major-General Edward Buba, the defense department's spokesperson.
On Monday, many people were killed when an Air Force Mi-171 helicopter that had been sent to rescue the injured crashed close to Chukuba village in Shiroro. Despite Buba's lack of confirmation, two military officials told Reuters that the chopper was likely taken down by gang members firing at it.
"The helicopter crashed with 14 of the earlier killed in action personnel, seven of the earlier wounded in action personnel, two pilots, and two crew members," Buba said in a statement. "Operations are ongoing to recover the bodies and investigate the cause of the air crash, which will be communicated," he declared.
Attacks by gangs, also known as bandits in the local language, have baffled Nigeria's security forces, who are already overburdened dealing with a violent separatist group in the east, a deadly herder-farmer crisis in the central states, and a 13-year insurgency against Islamist groups Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the north.
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