Militants in northern Nigeria kill 10 security forces and 1 resident, officials say

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Armed militants ambushed Nigerian security forces who were responding to a distress call in the northwestern state of Kebbi, fatally shooting nine soldiers, a police officer and one resident, authorities said Wednesday.

The militants targeted the security forces in Kebbi’s Shanga council area late Tuesday when they were being deployed to respond to warnings about a pending attack, according to Yahaya Sarki, a spokesman for Kebbi state government.

Several soldiers also were injured in the attack in the village of Giron Masa, said Sarki, who shared photos of burned vehicles along a dusty road surrounded by forests.

Kebbi Governor Nasir Idris visited the injured soldiers at the hospital and said the attack had caused great loss. “Those that lost their lives, the government of Kebbi state will do everything to assist the families,” he said.

The attack is the latest in a cycle of violence in Nigeria’s conflict-battered region where armed groups often target security forces and remote communities in areas with limited state and security presence.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack, but some residents suspected the Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), known locally as Lakurawa, which recently has become more lethal in states like Kebbi and Sokoto along the porous border with Niger Republic.

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Lakurawa was the target of a U.S. strike carried out in Nigeria in December in collaboration with the Nigerian military. That strike came as part of U.S. intervention efforts after U.S. President Donald Trump alleged that Christians were being targeted in killings in Nigeria.

The Nigerian military has said in the past that Lakurawa has roots in neighboring Niger and that it became more active in Nigeria’s border communities following a 2023 military coup in Niger that fractured relations between Nigeria and Niger.