34 Killed in Nigeria Attack

Locals and the leader of a vigilante organization claim that a gang of armed men attacked the Zamfara state in northwest Nigeria and killed at least 34 persons, including seven soldiers.

The event happened on Monday afternoon in the remote Dan Gulbi district of the state's Maru local government area, according to Ismail Magaji, the organization's head.

Lawali Zonai, a resident, said, "27 villagers were killed in the attack while seven military personnel were ambushed on their way to aid the community from the gruesome attack."

Calls requesting confirmation of the event were not immediately answered by a Zamfara state police official.

In the past three years, gangs of highly armed individuals, known as "bandits" locally, have caused havoc across northwest Nigeria, kidnapping thousands, killing hundreds, and making certain places dangerous to travel by road or farm in.

The assaults have baffled Nigeria's security forces, who are already stretched thin trying to put an end to a 14-year Islamist insurgency in the northeast, deadly farmer-herder and sectarian battles in the center area, and increasing attacks by a separatist group in the southeast.