At least 26 members of the Nigerian safety forces have been killed and eight wounded in an ambush by gunmen in central Nigeria late Sunday, two navy sources informed AFP.

An air drive spokesman stated a helicopter rescuing the wounded crashed on Monday morning within the space the place the military is preventing felony teams, with out specifying whether or not the crew and passengers had survived.

The two navy officers requested to not be recognized as a result of they weren’t authorised to talk on the incident whereas navy authorities weren’t accessible for remark.

“We lost 23 soldiers, including three officers, and three Civilians JTF (vigilantes) in the encounter while eight soldiers were injured,” stated the primary supply following “a serious fight” alongside the Zungeru-Tegina freeway.

A second officer gave the identical toll and stated the bandits additionally suffered “heavy casualties”. He additionally stated that communication had been misplaced with an air drive helicopter despatched to evacuate the casualties, with 11 of the lifeless and 7 of the injured aboard.

A Nigerian air drive spokesman confirmed its Mi-171 helicopter on a “casualty evacuation mission” crashed on Monday after take-off from Zungeru.

“The aircraft had departed Zungeru Primary School enroute for Kaduna but was later discovered to have crashed near Chukuba Village in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State,” spokesman Edward Gabkwet stated in an announcement.

He stated efforts have been beneath approach to rescue these aboard and that preliminary investigations had been opened into the reason for the crash.

Barely per week goes by in Africa’s most populous nation with out assaults or kidnappings by criminals referred to as “bandits” within the northwest and centre.

The gangs, who’ve been infamous for mass college abductions, keep camps in an enormous forest straddling the states of Niger, Kaduna, Zamfara and Katsina.

Northwest and central Nigeria have for years been terrorised by bandits who raid distant villages the place they kill and abduct residents for ransom in addition to burning properties after looting them.

Impunity in addition to inadequate safety and wider authorities presence has allowed the violence to fester, consultants say.