Armed men killed around 40 people on Sunday in northern Nigeria, according to two security reports prepared for the UN and seen by AFP on Monday.

The northern half of Africa's most populous nation is plagued by multi-faceted insecurity, between armed gangs, locally called bandits, who loot villages and kidnap and terrorize residents, and the presence of jihadist groups, mainly active in the northeast and some neighbouring countries.

For months, Nigeria has been facing a resurgence of attacks by bandits and jihadists in its northern half, forcing President Bola Tinubu, who will seek a second term next January, to declare a state of security emergency in November.

In Zamfara State on Sunday night, "bandits ambushed travellers on the Magami-Dansadu road in the Gusau Local Government (...) They killed 30 people, including civilians, hunters and a community guard, and injured many others," the report said.

"Security forces responded to the attack and killed several bandits after an exchange of fire," the text states.

In addition, on the same day, bandits killed 12 people in the neighboring state of Katsina, according to another report prepared for the UN and consulted by AFP on Monday.

In a statement released on Monday, the Nigerian army indicated that it had, in Zamfara State, "killed several terrorists", without further details, on Sunday in the local government of Shinkafi.

Military airstrikes

The bandits have camps in a forest extending into the states of Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kebbi in the northwest, and in Niger State in the west, from where they launch their attacks.

Faced with a resurgence of attacks in recent months, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has ordered the reinforcement of military and police forces, but the violence persists.

On Sunday, the Nigerian army claimed to have carried out airstrikes against "terrorist enclaves" in Niger State (north-central) and killed "70 armed bandits".

According to residents interviewed by AFP, these military strikes also killed 13 civilians.

The chairman of the Shiroro local government area council, Isyaku Bawa, told AFP that the incident occurred on Sunday in Kusasu when a fighter jet struck criminal gang hideouts.

"A Nigerian air force airstrike targeting a terrorist hideout in the village of Kusasu mistakenly hit civilians and killed approximately 13 people," he stated.

"It was not intentional. I offer my condolences to the families of the victims, we ask their forgiveness for what happened," he added.

Bandit-related violence stems in part from conflicts between herders and farmers over access to limited resources, particularly water and land. These tensions are exacerbated by climate change. These intercommunal clashes have gradually evolved into the development of organized networks specializing in cattle rustling and kidnapping for ransom.

The Nigerian government has deployed troops to Zamfara State since 2015 to combat these armed groups, but the violence persists.

Local authorities have also repeatedly attempted to negotiate peace agreements with the bandits, without managing to put a lasting end to the attacks.