Armed men on motorbikes kidnap more than 60 in northwest Nigeria
The men opened fire as they rode into Sabon Garin Damri in Zamfara state on Saturday, resident Isa Sani told Reuters.
"They came on motorcycles, shooting randomly before abducting our daughters and children. As of today, we haven't heard anything from them. Everywhere is quiet," he said.
Groups known locally as "bandits" have killed hundreds of people and seized thousands across the state in recent years. They often hold captives for months and demand ransoms for their release.
"More than 60 people were taken, including women and children," Shehu Musa, the traditional chief of the village, told Reuters by phone on Monday.
The assailants also killed a farmer and abducted his son in the nearby village of Rogoji, Musa said.
Zamfara, which borders Niger, has become the epicentre of the violent attacks that have disrupted farming and travel and forced thousands to flee their homes.
Zamfara police did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
34 minutes ago
- Reuters
Wildfires kill three across southern Europe, force thousands to evacuate
PATRAS, Greece/MADRID, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Hundreds of firefighters battled to put out wildfires across southern Europe on Thursday, some of which are believed to have been set deliberately by arsonists and stoked by an extended heat wave gripping the region. The European Union sent reinforcements to help Greece and Spain tackle blazes which have killed three firefighters, damaged homes and buildings and razed swathes of farm and forest land, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people. Hot and dry summers have been common in the Mediterranean region. But wildfires fanned by intense heat and winds, the result of a fast-changing climate, scientists say, have become more destructive and tougher to control. From Portugal to Spain, Albania and Greece, firefighters struggled to contain towering walls of flames threatening life and property. The Iberian Peninsula alone made up about half of the EU's burned area of some 500,000 hectares (1,931 square miles) so far this year, according to estimates by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). In Greece, more than 200 firefighters assisted by 11 aircraft battled to extinguish a blaze near the port city of Patras in the western Peloponnese. Elevated temperatures stoked tinderbox conditions. "In such circumstances just a spark is enough to start a fire which can quickly spin out of control," said Greece's Civil Protection and Climate Change Minister Giannis Kefalogiannis. Three people suspected of deliberately igniting wildfires near Patras were arrested and expected to appear before a public prosecutor on Thursday, a senior police official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Greece has made available a record number of some 18,000 firefighters this year. In Spain, three people, including volunteer firefighters, died amid Local media identified the latest victim as 37-year-old Jaime Aparicio, who suffered burns to 85% of his body after being trapped alongside another volunteer firefighter as they attempted to create firebreaks with brush cutters. On Thursday, 11 large fires threatened built-up areas, forcing authorities to evacuate over 9,000 residents, and to cut off roads and suspend rail services. In Portugal, nearly 1,000 firefighters battled a blaze near the scenic mountain village of Piodao. Crews managed to bring under control a wildfire burning for 11 days - the longest for this season - in the mountainous area of Vila Real in the north. In Albania, soldiers, firefighters, and volunteers, supported by helicopters and an Italian Canadair fire jet, battled to contain separate fronts in the Sopot area between Delvina and Gjirokastra on Thursday after blazes raging for days damaged dozens of homes and charred agricultural land. Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Thursday 137 arsonists have been identified since June, and several were being arrested. Clirim Conku, a 61-year-old farmer in southern Albania, lost vineyards, olive groves and all his livestock in a wildfire but was relieved he and his faithful dog survived. "I was using everything to keep the flames out. For example to fight the smoke this napkin has saved my life. I put some water on it but it stayed wet more with sweat," he said. Others were bitter that a lifetime of work was gone in minutes. Restaurant owner Dimitris Daskas, 57, whose business was close to Patras, broke his arm while trying to save his property and was left without water or power as the flames approached. "My wife was calling (emergency services) to say we are on fire; they didn't even pick up," he told Reuters.
Daily Mail
36 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
New Zealand mother and son detained by ICE
A New Zealand woman and her young son thought they were being kidnapped when ICE officers detained them as they returned to the US following a trip to Canada. Sarah Shaw and Isaac, six, have been held in United States immigration detention in South Texas for three weeks, despite them living in Washington state on valid visas for more than three years. Ms Shaw and her three children - Grace, 11, Seth, nine, and Isaac - briefly crossed the US border on July 24 to drive to Vancouver Airport in Canada - less than three hours away. The young mum dropped off her two eldest children for a flight back to NZ to see their grandparents - Vancouver was the closest airport with direct flights - before she turned around and headed back to America with Isaac. However, what should have been a standard crossing back home - where she had been living since 2021 after she moved to the US to marry her then-husband - turned to disaster. A close friend of Ms Shaw, navy veteran Victoria Besancon, said the pair were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and 'whisked away in an unmarked white van'. Ms Shaw's phone was confiscated and they were transported to Dilley Immigration Processing Centre - a 35-hour drive from their home in Everett. Ms Besancon is one of two people the mother has been permitted to speak to since her arrest. Dilley is considered the largest immigration detention centre in the US with Ms Besancon claiming its conditions are 'comparable to prison'. 'She is not allowed to have her own clothes or her own underwear. There are five bunk beds in a room with multiple families in those rooms and they are locked inside from 8pm to 8am,' she said of Ms Shaw's detainment. The pair are some of the only English speakers in the facility, aside from staff, making them feel even more isolated. Ms Besancon said her friend described the ordeal as 'terrifying' and she 'thought she was being kidnapped' because 'they didn't really explain anything to her at first.' The Kiwi mum was living in the US on a 'combo card' visa 0 including a work permit granted through her employer and an I-360 visa, available to survivors of domestic violence committed by a citizen. She has spent the more than three years working as a youth counsellor in a juvenile detention facility in the state of Washington and was recently advised her work visa had been renewed but the approval for her I-360 was still pending. I-360 visas have been approved for all three of Ms Shaw's children, including Isaac. Ms Shaw requested humanitarian parole, an emergency pass into the US, but was told she wasn't eligible. 'Not only was she denied that right, but agents lied to her, stating they had already requested it and she was denied. It was later confirmed that was a lie and no parole was filed or requested on her behalf,' Ms Besancon said. US Customs and Border Protection advises without both elements of Ms Shaw's 'combo card', she could face deportation as reentry is not guaranteed. Her detainment could also see her pending I-360 application be denied. Ms Shaw had an interview with US Citizen and Immigration services (USCIS) and hopes her I-360 form will be approved and expedited. 'She still has a valid and current work visa. She was never inadmissible to the United States and the Department of Homeland Security made the independent decision to detain her,' Ms Besancon said. The veteran warned tourists against visiting the US due to the current political climate. She claimed there's been an 'increasingly aggressive' attitude toward immigration since Donald Trump was inaugurated as President in January. Travel to the US dropped 3.1 per cent in July alone - the latest in a string of declines since the administration focused its attention on stricter travel and trade controls. Ms Shaw's father, Rod Price, told Radio New Zealand her eldest children are enjoying their time in Whangaparāoa, 42km north of Auckland. 'Ah, the young fella, it's just water off a duck's back, but my granddaughter is - she won't outright say it - but you know, you can tell by their actions and their concern and questions,' Mr Price said. Fortunately, the family's plight should be over in the coming days. 'There's a 90 per cent chance that she's going to be out Thursday, which is our Friday, 3pm. She's so confident that she's already booked a flight back to Seattle,' Mr Price said. If Ms Shaw and Isaac are not released on Thursday, they will be permitted to argue for their release in court on August 29. The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it has been in contact with a New Zealander in US detention. Daily Mail has contacted ICE for further comment. Ms Besancon has created a GoFundMe to help cover Ms Shaw's legal fees and travel costs. The fundraiser received more than $53,000 USD ($81,000 AUD) in just seven days.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Pakistani militants kill six policemen in 13 attacks
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Militants in Pakistan's northwest carried out 13 overnight gun and grenade attacks on the police, killing six officers, officials said on Thursday. The attacks were against police stations, checkpoints and patrols across seven districts in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, police officer Mohammad Ali Babakhel said, as the nation of 240 million people celebrated its 78th independence day. The militants used rocket-propelled grenade launchers in some of the attacks, he said, adding six officers were killed and another nine injured. "Out of 13, we inflicted losses on them, repulsed them and forced them to flee in nine, ten incidents," Provincial police chief Zulfiqar Hameed told reporters after attending funerals of the police officers in one of the districts. "We suffered losses in two incidents." He said the militants timed the attacks to coincide with the Independence Day celebration. A spike in the attacks in recent months is a tough challenge to handle for the overstretched and under-equipped police force, the frontline against militant attacks. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a Pakistani Islamist militant group with links to the Afghan Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attacks. The TTP is an umbrella group of several Sunni Islamist groups. It has been fighting against the state since 2007 in a bid to overthrow the government and replace it with its version of Islamic law. Attacks have accelerated since the TTP revoked a ceasefire with the Pakistani government in late 2022. In 2024, Islamist militants carried out 335 countrywide attacks, killing 520 people, according to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, an independent organisation. Pakistan says the militants operate out of neighbouring Afghanistan, where they train fighters and plan attacks, a charge Kabul has denied.
