Nigerian Army Foils Bandit Ambush in Plateau State
Troops of Operation Enduring Peace have foiled an ambush by suspected bandits in Plateau State, killing one attacker and recovering an AK-47 rifle and ammunition, according to AllAfrica, which cited reporting by Premium Times.
The attack occurred in Plateau State, in Nigeria’s North Central region. Soldiers returned fire when the bandits attempted to ambush them, killing one of the attackers, according to the report. The remaining assailants dispersed, and the troops recovered an AK-47 rifle along with ammunition from the scene.
Plateau State, with its capital at Jos, sits at the boundary between Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north and its predominantly Christian south. The state has for years experienced recurring violence, including communal clashes between farming communities and nomadic herders, as well as the broader wave of criminal banditry that has spread from the northwest of the country. Successive military operations have been deployed in an effort to stem the bloodshed.
Operation Enduring Peace is one of several military campaigns the Nigerian armed forces have run in the Middle Belt and surrounding states to counter armed groups. The Nigerian Army has in recent years intensified operations against bandit networks across several northern and central states, and the recovery of small arms such as AK-47 rifles has been a stated objective of those campaigns, given the wider proliferation of weapons across the Sahel and West Africa.
Sources
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