In response to a government airstrike on their hideouts in northwest Nigeria, squads of backwoods bandits opened fire on neighboring settlements, killing at least 200 people.

On Saturday, residents returned to their wrecked houses after the military recaptured the communities following intense fighting.

Their first mission was to organize mass funerals for those unable to flee when the gangs flooded the towns on motorcycles wielding automatic firearms.

According to government estimates, the verified death toll is 58, but that figure likely represents less than a fifth of possible casualties.

Ummaru Makeri, who lost his wife and three children, stated that around 154 persons were buried, including some vigilantes. According to residents, the death toll was at least 200.

According to Reuters, at least 30 people were killed in the Anka local government district of Zamfara on Tuesday when over 300 armed bandits on motorcycles assaulted eight communities and began firing intermittently.

Airstrikes on forests

The military claimed it carried out airstrikes early Monday on targets in Zamfara state's Gusami woodland and west Tsamre village, killing more than 100 bandits, including two of their leaders.

According to one local who requested anonymity, the attacks on the communities could be connected to the military operations.

Several incidents have occurred in northwest Nigeria, which has dramatically increased mass abductions and other violent crimes since late 2020, as the government works to maintain law and order.

Separately, 30 students taken from their college in northern Nigeria's Kebbi state were released on Saturday, a spokesman for the Kebbi governor said, without providing details.

President Muhammadu Buhari announced on Saturday that the military had obtained additional equipment to track down and eradicate criminal gangs that have imposed a reign of terror on the populace, notably through the illegal collection of taxes on besieged towns.

"The recent bandit attacks on innocent people are an act of desperation by mass murderers who are now facing relentless pressure from our military forces," Buhari stated.

Buhari stated that the government would not halt military operations against bandits.