Gunmen - The African Mirror

Jun

25

2024

Death toll rises to 20 after gunmen attack Russia’s Dagestan

WORLD

THE death toll from a series of brazen attacks on churches and synagogues in Russia's mainly Muslim region of Dagestan rose to 20 after gunmen went on the rampage in coordinated attacks in two of the republic's most important cities. Gunmen with automatic weapons burst into an Orthodox church and a synagogue in the ancient city of Derbent on Sunday evening, setting fire to an icon at the church and killing a 66-year-old Orthodox priest, Nikolai Kotelnikov. In the city of Makhachkala, about 125 km (75 miles) north on the Caspian Sea shore, attackers shot at a traffic police post…

Jun

24

2024

By AHMED KINGIMI

Seven killed, dozens missing after gunmen attack in northern Nigeria

NEWS

AT least seven people were killed and 100 kidnapped when gunmen attacked a rural community in Nigeria's northwestern Katsina state, residents and police said, the latest attack against residents in the north of the country. Armed gangs, known locally as bandits, have frequently raided communities in the northwest, kidnapping residents, students and motorists for ransom. Residents said gunmen on motorbikes arrived in Maidabino village in Danmusa local government area of Katsina and started shooting sporadically, forcing residents to flee. Hassan Aliyu told Reuters by phone that the attack took residents by surprise and dozens of women and children were confirmed…

May

23

2024

By CAMILLUS EBOH

Police rescue at least 22 people kidnapped from suburb of Nigeria’s capital

NEWS

At least 22 people kidnapped by gunmen from the suburban Dawaki district of Abuja, Nigeria's capital, were rescued, police and residents said. Kidnapping for ransom is rife in Nigeria as roving gangs of armed men target people in remote areas, highways and schools. While there have been a few attacks and kidnappings around Abuja in recent years, the incidents have been largely consigned to the outskirts of the city where security is lax. Nicholas Olayinka, a resident, told Reuters on Tuesday that a large number of hooded gunmen in military uniforms invaded the parts of the district at about 7:40…

May

19

2024

By MOHAMMAD YUNUS YAWAR, CHARLOTTE GREENFIELD and ANA CANTERO

Gunmen kill three Spanish tourists in Afghanistan’s Bamyan province

WORLD

THREE Spanish tourists were killed and at least one Spaniard was injured in an attack by gunmen in Afghanistan's central Bamyan province, Spain's foreign ministry said. Earlier on Friday, Taliban interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qaniee had said that three foreign tourists and one Afghan citizen had been killed in the attack. Four foreign nationals and three Afghans were also injured in the attack when gunmen opened fire, he added. Four people have been arrested, he said. The Spanish foreign ministry said that the consular emergency unit had been fully mobilised and the victims and their families were being assisted.…

May

16

2024

By GABRIEL STARGARDTER and DOMINIQUE VIDALON

Gunmen ambush French prison van to free drug dealer, killing two guards

WORLD

GUNMEN wearing balaclavas ambushed a prison van in northern France to free a drug dealer known as "The Fly," killing two prison guards, severely wounding three and triggering a major police manhunt. The brazen, morning attack at a toll booth in Incarville in the Eure region of northern France underlines the growing threat of drug crime across Europe, the world's No.1 cocaine market. It came on the same day that France's Senate released a major report on drug trafficking, warning that the country faces a "tipping point" from rising narco violence that represents "a threat to the fundamental interests of…

Apr

23

2024

By The African Mirror

Gunmen kill six Nigerian soldiers in ambush

NEWS

SIX soldiers of the Nigerian army were ambushed and killed by gunmen while on patrol in the northern Niger state, the army said, the latest loss inflicted on the military by armed criminal gangs. Beyond fighting Islamist militants in the northeast, Nigeria's military has been called upon to tackle the threat in northern and central regions posed by criminal gangs who kill and kidnap villagers and schoolchildren. Nigerian Army spokesperson Major General Onyema Nwachukwu said in a statement late on Sunday that troops of the 1st Division were on a fighting patrol in Karaga village in Niger's Shiroro local government…

Mar

26

2024

By AHMED KINGIMI

Nigerian army rescues abducted Kaduna students

NEWS

THE Nigerian army rescued students and staff who were abducted by gunmen from a school in the country's north earlier this month, the military said, days before the deadline for a ransom payment. School officials and residents had said 287 students were taken on March 7 in the town of Kuriga in the northwestern state of Kaduna. A military spokesperson said 137 hostages - 76 of them female and 61 male - were rescued in the early hours of Sunday in the neighbouring state of Zamfara. "In the early hours of 24 March 2024, the military working with local authorities…

Mar

23

2024

By GUY FAULCONBRIDGE and ANDREW OSBORN

Gunmen kill 40 in attack at concert near Moscow, over 100 injured, Russia says

WORLD

AT least 40 people were killed and over 100 hurt when gunmen in camouflage clothing opened fire with automatic weapons on people at a concert in the Crocus City Hall near Moscow, Russia's FSB security service said. In one of the worst such attacks in Russia in years, at least five gunmen were shown in unverified videos firing repeatedly at screaming civilians cowering in the concert hall as Soviet-era rock group "Picnic" was about to perform. The 6,200-seat concert hall in a suburb west of Moscow, which is near a shopping mall also called Crocus City, was sold out for…

Mar

20

2024

By GARBA MUHAMMAD and HAMZA IBRAHIM

Gunmen in Nigeria kidnap about 100 in weekend attacks

NEWS

GUNMEN in Nigeria kidnapped around 100 people, including women and children, in two weekend attacks in Kaduna state, residents and police said. Kidnappings by criminal gangs demanding ransoms have become an almost daily occurrence in Nigeria, especially in the north, with authorities seemingly powerless to stop them. Kaduna police spokesperson Mansur Hassan confirmed the incident in Kajuru Station village on Sunday night but could not give a figure on those missing. He said security agents had been deployed to rescue the villagers. Tanko Wada Sarkin, a village head, said 87 people were taken. "We have so far recorded the return…

Mar

11

2024

By HAMZA IBRAHIM

Gunmen kidnap 15 students in dawn raid on Nigerian school

NEWS

GUNMEN kidnapped at least 15 students from a school in Nigeria's northwestern Sokoto state in a dawn raid, the school's owner and a resident said, days after some 300 students were abducted by a gang in northern Kaduna state. The gunmen forced their way into the school premises in the Sokoto village of Gidan Bakuso and started firing shots sporadically, waking and causing panic among the students, who ran for cover, said school owner Liman Abubakar Bakuso. "They succeeded in abducting 15 of my students, the oldest being 20 and 15, but all the others are below 13," said Bakuso by phone,…