Nigerian military officials state that in an operation supported by troops from neighboring Niger, 89 "bandits" responsible for a series of attacks and raids against civilians in the Zamfara state were killed, several firearms including assault rifles and a machine gun were recovered, 322 heads of cattle were recovered alongside 77 motorbikes, and 5 people who were kidnapped were rescued. Nigerian Major-General John Enenchie congratulated the soldiers, thanking them for their efforts, and said that the hostages and cattle are due to be formally handed over in the coming days.

According to the Nigerian military Twitter page, the strike force suffered no casualties nor lost any equipment. Major-General John Enenchie told the Xinhua news agency of China alongside other media outlets that the ground forces that wiped out the "bandits" and cleared out their encampment were supported by two helicopter gunships of the Air Force, and the rescued hostages include two males and three females. Other officials said that the "bandits" were responsible for stealing cattle and motorbikes from villages, and also kidnapping for ransom. 

While praised by some officials and media outlets for providing minimal tolerance to theft, ransoming, and possession of automatic firearms, others condemned the Nigerian and Niger military for killing the "bandits" without attempting to take prisoners or charging with criminal offences. Several media outlets have accused the joint task force of killing indiscriminately and punishing without a trial. 

Note: The first photo used in this post is of the firearms seized by Nigerian troops. The photo was posted by the Nigerian military's Twitter account (https://twitter.com/DefenceInfoNG). In total, 19 AK-47s, 1 PKT machine gun, one homemade pistol, and one flintlock rifle were confiscated alongside 9 magazines and over 100 rounds of 7.62mm rounds. Meanwhile, the second photo used is from the public domain and can be used even for commercial purposes without any attribution or citation.