Kano, Nigeria, March 9 (AFP\/APP): Gunmen have killed 19 security personnel, including 13 soldiers, in an assault in the northwest Nigerian state of Kebbi, a security source and residents said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The battle erupted late Tuesday in Kanya, a village in Danko-Wasagu district, just a day after dozens of members of a self-defence militia were killed in the same area.<\/p>\n
At least 57 vigilantes were killed in nearby Sakaba on Monday in an ambush by heavily armed criminal gangs known locally as bandits.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of gunmen invaded Kanya, engaging a combined military and police detachment in a three-hour gun fight, the source and residents said.<\/p>\n
“The death toll stands at 19. They include 13 soldiers, five policemen and one vigilante,” security personnel, who did not want to be identified, told AFP.<\/p>\n
He said eight other security personnel, including four soldiers, were hospitalised with wounds.<\/p>\n
“It was an intense fight that lasted more than three hours. The terrorists had the upper hand because of their sheer number.”<\/p>\n
Military and police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kano, Nigeria, March 9 (AFP\/APP): Gunmen have killed 19 security personnel, including 13 soldiers, in an assault in the northwest Nigerian state of Kebbi, a security source and residents said Wednesday. The battle erupted late Tuesday in Kanya, a village in Danko-Wasagu district, just a […]<\/p>\n
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