Scores of bandits have been reportedly killed in a series of coordinated air strikes by the air component of Operation Fasan Yamma, on Makakkari Forest in Zamfara State.

This was contained in a statement by the Director, Public Relations and Information, NAF, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, on Monday in Abuja.

According to him, Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) confirmed movements of over 400 bandits, planning to invade a farming community.

He said the operation involved precision airstrikes and ground assaults, resulting in the deaths of several notorious kingpins and scores of their foot soldiers.

Ejodame stated, “The synergy between air and land components made the operation exceptional.”

Armed groups called “bandits” by locals have for years been terrorising communities in northwest and central Nigeria, raiding villages, kidnapping residents for ransom and burning homes after looting them.

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Cattle rustling and kidnapping have become huge moneymakers in the largely impoverished countryside.

Groups also levy taxes on farmers and artisanal miners.

The conflict is worsening a malnutrition crisis in the northwest as attacks drive people away from their farms, in a situation that has been complicated by climate change and western aid cuts.

Despite military deployment to fight the criminal gangs since 2015 and the creation of a militia force by the Zamfara State Government two years ago, the violence has persisted.

In July, Nigerian troops killed at least 95 members of an armed gang in a shootout and air strikes in the northwest state of Niger.

Bandits, who are primarily motivated by money, have also increased their cooperation with Nigeria’s jihadist groups, who are waging a separate insurrection in the northeast.