Armed men killed at least 38 people in the village of Dutse Dan Ajiya in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara State, local police and authorities told AFP Saturday. The Nigerian army has deployed to the region for several years to combat these groups, but the violence continues. The rising violence by jihadist groups and bandits in Nigeria in recent months has drawn the attention of the United States. Washington, which frames much of the violence as “persecution” of Christians, ordered surprise airstrikes in coordination with Nigerian authorities on Christmas Day in Sokoto State in the north. Since 2009, the jihadist insurgency in Nigeria, led primarily by Boko Haram and its rival faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap), has left more than 40,000 dead and two million displaced in the northeast of the country, according to the UN.

Source: Dhaka Tribune February 21, 2026 13:48 UTC