Ten soldiers were reportedly killed and an unspecified number injured on Monday night, when bandits attacked a military base in Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

According to the State Police spokesman, DSP Mohammed Jalige, who confirmed the incident on Tuesday, the bandits attacked the Army Forward Operational Base located around the Polwire area along the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Road.

“The bandits on Monday night, attacked the Army Forward Operational Base located around the Polwire area close to Mikati Farm along the Kaduna- Birnin Gwari Road.

The soldiers, who were few in number, were taken unaware by the terrorists who stormed the base in large numbers on motorcycles with sophisticated weapons and immediately opened fire on the soldiers.

They took the soldiers by surprise and killed 10 soldiers while many of them were injured,” Jalige said when asked for a confirmation of the incident.

On Sunday, bandits abducted 11 persons at Angwar Maji community at Jere town in Kagarko Local Government Area of the state along the Abuja-Kaduna Highway a day after the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali, announced that the road was now safe for commuters, and the deployment of additional troops to the Abuja-Kaduna Highway and surrounding communities.

Birnin-Gwari has been one of the hotspots of banditry in Kaduna, where many people have been killed, thousands kidnapped, properties destroyed and socioeconomic activities disrupted in the past seven years.