Troops of Operation Hadarin Daji in Zamfara state have rescued nine kidnapped victims and neutralised 10 bandits in Zamfara state.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the Army headquarters said the coordinated operation by troops of Sector 1 Operation Hadarin Daji in Zamfara and the troops of Forward Operating Base Danmarke, acting on a credible information on armed bandits movement with some kidnapped victims from Sokoto state through Gadazaima village in Zamfara state in the early hours of Tuesday.
It said the troops immediately mobilised for an offensive ambush operation within the village and made contact with the armed bandits that lasted for hours.
It added that due to the troops firepower superiority which forced the bandits to abandon the kidnapped victims and withdraw in disarray.
It added: “During the fire fight, 10 armed bandits were neutralized while unconfirmed numbers of them fled with gunshot wounds.
“Additionally, in an attempt to escape troops onslaught, several of the bandits drowned in a swampy river while 2 were captured alive during pursuit by the troops.”
Items recovered included: six AK 47 Rifles, 1PKT Machine Gun and 5 Magazines, 20 rounds of 7.62MM Special ammunition, 3 Mobile phones, 2 Solar Panels, 1 sewing machine were captured from the Bandits. Also, a sum of N2,410,000 recovered.
It stressed that the nine rescued victims who are all from Sokoto state were successfully rescued, adding that unfortunately, one female abducted victim was killed by the bandits during the fire fight.
It said all rescued victims were handed over to the appropriate authority to reunite them with their families.