This archive report was first published on 15 July 2019.
On July 13, 2019, a group of around 300 armed men launched a revenge attack on Kirtawa village in Katsina state, Nigeria, leaving 10 people dead and several others injured.
According to regional police spokesman Gambo Isah, the assailants invaded the village late Saturday, shooting residents and stealing an unspecified number of cows.
"Ten persons were found dead, five injured," Isah said in a statement.
The bandits set fire to five cars and four motorcycles before fleeing the scene.
Police reported that the gunmen opened fire on security forces as they arrived, shooting out the tyres of an armoured vehicle and wounding a soldier and a paramilitary officer.
The attack was a reprisal for an earlier assault on the bandits by vigilantes from the village, police said.
Katsina state has seen a surge in attacks by kidnapping and cattle rustling gangs, prompting villagers to form vigilante groups to defend themselves.
The bandit gangs maintain camps in Rugu forest, which spans across Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, and Niger states.
Just last week, gunmen killed six people when they raided three villages in Katsina's Kankara district.
