Gunmen abducted at least 50 people, including women and children, in northwestern Nigeria's Zamfara state over the weekend, residents and police confirmed on Tuesday. The latest mass kidnapping highlights the ongoing insecurity in the region, where armed groups operate with little resistance. The raid occurred in Maradun, lasting over two hours, according to community leader Halliru Attahiru, whose niece was among those taken. “Several women and small children were kidnapped,” Attahiru said, adding that authorities have yet to respond. Tasiu Hamisu, another resident, reported that gunmen targeted a house where 20 individuals were abducted, operating without any security interference. Zamfara police spokesperson Yazid Abubakar confirmed the incident but did not provide further details. No group has claimed responsibility, but locals suspect the involvement of bandit groups known for mass kidnappings and ransom demands. These groups, often former herders in conflict with settled communities, have become a persistent threat in the conflict-prone northern region. Kidnappings for ransom have surged in northwestern Nigeria, with armed groups exploiting weak security to target villages and travelers. Most victims are released after paying hefty ransoms. Earlier this year, more than 130 schoolchildren were freed after being held captive for over two weeks in neighboring Kaduna state. Read: Over 100 killed as gasoline tanker explodes in Nigeria The military has pledged to intensify efforts to combat insecurity in northern Nigeria, with Army Chief Olufemi Oluyede emphasizing renewed operations to address the crisis. However, the persistence of abductions, including the infamous 2014 Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping, underscores the scale of the challenge. Nearly 100 of the 276 girls abducted from Chibok remain in captivity a decade later. Since then, over 1,500 students have been kidnapped, with armed groups using ransoms to fund other crimes and extend their influence in Nigeria's resource-rich but poorly secured northern regions. Source: With inputs from agencies

Gunmen killed 20 miners and wounded another seven in Pakistan’s southwest, a police official said Friday. It’s the latest attack in restive Balochistan province and comes days ahead of a major security summit being hosted in the capital. Police official Hamayun Khan Nasir said the gunmen stormed the accommodations at the coal mine in Duki district late Thursday night, rounded up the men and opened fire. Most of the men were from Pashtun-speaking areas of Balochistan. Three of the dead and four of the wounded were Afghan. Nobody claimed immediate responsibility for the attack. The province is home to separatist groups who want independence. They accuse the federal government in Islamabad of unfairly exploiting oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan at the expense of locals. Read: Gunmen kill dozens in multiple attacks in one of the worst violence in a Pakistani province On Monday, a group called the Baloch Liberation Army said it carried out an attack on Chinese nationals outside Pakistan's biggest airport. There are thousands of Chinese working in the country, most of them involved in Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative. The explosion, which the BLA said was the work of a suicide bomber, also raised questions about the ability of Pakistani forces to protect high-profile events or foreigners in the country. Islamabad is hosting a summit next week of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a grouping founded by China and Russia to counter Western alliances. Read more: Gunmen kill 23 passengers taken from vehicles in an attack in southwest Pakistan

Grief has engulfed the Sylhet house Abu Saleh Md Yusuf Jhony who was gunned down in New York’s Buffalo city on April 27. Another Bangladeshi named Babul Uddin, hailed from Cumilla, was also shot dead by gunmen at the same time. Yusuf's family was shattered upon receiving the death news. Yusuf, son of Nurul Haque, a former member of Tinchati village under Kanaighat Jhingabari Union, moved to the US 10 months back with his wife and two daughters for permanent residency. He used to work for a painting company there and his family members have been living in Majortila area of Sylhet city. Read more: Tipu-Prity murder: AL leader Ashraf, 32 others indicted His parents got fainted several times after hearing the news of the tragic death of Yusuf, the eldest among three brothers and one sister. According to Bangladeshi expatriates living in Buffalo city of New York, Yusuf and Babul Uddin were working as painters in a house in 100 blocks on Jenner Street in Buffalo. At that time, some miscreants demanded extortion from Babul Uddin. Being rejected, when the terrorists attempt to attack Babul, Yusuf came forward to save him. At that time, the gunmen shot and killed the duo. Buffalo police spokesman Michael J. De George said they responded to a report of shots fired in the 100 Block on Jenner Street, according to reports of local media. The expatriates said that they will take various protest programmes demanding justice for the killing of two Bangladeshis. Read more: Momen slams Bangladeshi expat's killing in US, denounces hate crime

At least 30 people were killed in an attack on an internally displaced person's camp in north-central Nigeria, the second major attack in the area this week, authorities said Saturday. Gunmen attacked civilians in Mgban village in Benue state Friday evening and an investigation is underway, said Sewuese Anene, a local police officer. While it's unclear who was responsible for the attack, authorities said suspicion fell on local herdsmen who have clashed in the past with farmers over land disputes in north-central Nigeria. The farmers accuse the herders, mostly of Fulani origin, of grazing their livestock on their farms and destroying their produce. The herders insist that the lands are grazing routes that were first backed by law in 1965, five years after the country gained its independence. The people attacked had been displaced from fighting between farmers and cattle herders and were seeking refuge in a makeshift displacement site. The violence comes days after gunmen killed at least 50 people in two separate attacks on Umogidi village in the state, which is referred to as “Nigeria’s food basket” because of its bountiful harvests. The villages are some 170 kilometers (105 miles) away from Friday's attack, however, it's unclear if the same group was responsible for both attacks.

Gunmen left a threatening message Thursday for Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi and opened fire at a supermarket owned by his in-laws in Argentina’s third-largest city, police said. Nobody was injured in the early morning attack, and it was unclear why assailants would target Messi or the Unico supermarket in Rosario, owned by the family of his wife, Antonella Roccuzzo. The city’s mayor, Pablo Javkin, lashed out at federal authorities over what he called their failure to curb a surge in drug-related violence in Rosario, located about 190 miles ( 300 kilometers) northwest of the capital of Buenos Aires. Police said two men on a motorcycle fired at least a dozen shots into an Unico branch in the early hours, and left a message on a piece of carboard that read, “Messi, we’re waiting for you. Javkin is also a drug trafficker, so he won’t take care of you.” Read: Lionel Messi Won The Best FIFA Men's Player Prize For 2022, Records Messi, captain of the national team that won last year’s World Cup for Argentina for the first time in 36 years, has not commented. Messi currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain and spends much of his time overseas, though he often visits Rosario where he has a home in the suburb of Funes. Javkin, a center-left politician in opposition to the ruling Peronist coalition, appeared to throw suspicion of complicity for the attack on both criminal gangs and federal security officials. “I doubt everyone, even those who are supposed to protect us,” Javkin said in an interview with a local radio station. He said the supermarket was in a section of Rosario that has seen frequent crimes, that he has raised the issue in recent meetings with federal and provincial official law enforcement officials, and that no action has been taken. “Where are the ones who need to take care of us?” Javkin said. “It’s clear that those who have the weapons and have the possibility of investigating the criminals aren’t doing it, and it’s very easy for any gang to carry out something like this.”  

Ten guards and four inmates were killed early Sunday when gunmen in armored vehicles attacked a state prison in Ciudad Juarez across the border from El Paso, Texas, according to state officials. The Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office said in a statement that around 7 a.m. various armored vehicles arrived at the prison and gunmen opened fire on guards. In addition to those killed, 13 people were wounded and at least 24 inmates escaped. Read more: Airplane crash in Gulf of Mexico leaves 2 dead, 1 missing Mexican soldiers and state police regained control of the prison later Sunday. The state prosecutor's office said its personnel were investigating. In August, a riot inside the same state prison spread to the streets of Juarez in violence that left 11 people dead. In that case, two inmates were killed inside the prison and then alleged gang members started shooting up the town, including killing four employees of a radio station who were doing a promotion at a restaurant. Read more: Illegal border crossings to US from Mexico reach annual high Violence is frequent in Mexican prisons, including in some where authorities only maintain nominal control. Clashes regularly erupt among inmate of rival gangs, which in places like Juarez serve as proxies for drug cartels. Shortly before Sunday's attack on the prison, municipal police were attacked and managed to capture four men after a pursuit, according to the state prosecutor's office statement. Later, police killed two alleged gunmen traveling in a SUV.

Eight people were killed and three injured Monday in an attack by gunmen on an Iraqi village previously held by the Islamic State extremist group, officials said. The attack took place in the village of Albu Bali northwest of Fallujah in Iraq. Read more: Explosion in northern Iraq kills 9 policemen: Iraq officials Uday al-Khadran, commissioner of the al-Khalis district where the attack occurred said “a group of terrorists riding motorcycles” had attacked the village at around 8:30 p.m. and that dozens of residents, some of them unarmed, had rushed to confront the attackers, the official Iraqi News Agency reported. Security forces are searching for those responsible, he said. The violence came a day after an explosive device went off in northern Iraq, killing at least nine members of the Iraqi federal police force who were on patrol. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the village of Ali al-Sultan in the Riyadh district of the province of Kirkuk. Read more: Iranian Guard attacks militant group in Iraq amid unrest On Wednesday, three Iraqi soldiers were killed when a bomb exploded during a security operation in the Tarmiyah district, north of Baghdad. Among the dead was the commander of the 59th Infantry Brigade. No one claimed responsibility for that attack either, but remnants of the militant Islamic State group are active in the area and have claimed similar attacks in Iraq in the past.

Islamic militants have stormed a hotel in Somalia's capital, engaging in an hours-long exchange of fire with the security forces that left at least 20 people dead, according to police and witnesses. In addition, at least 40 people were wounded in the late Friday night attack and security forces rescued many others, including children, from the scene at Mogadishu's popular Hayat Hotel, they said Saturday. The attack started with explosions outside the hotel before the gunmen entered the building. Somali forces were still trying to end the siege of the hotel almost 24 hours after the attack started. Gunfire could still be heard Saturday evening as security forces tried to contain the last gunmen thought to be holed up on the hotel’s top floor. The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, which has ties with al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest of its frequent attempts to strike places visited by government officials. The attack on the hotel is the first major terror incident in Mogadishu since Somalia's new leader, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, took over in May. In a Twitter post, the U.S. Embassy in Somalia said it “strongly condemns” the attack on the Hayat. Read: Gunmen kill 4 in attack targeting lawmaker in NW Pakistan “We extend condolences to the families of loved ones killed, wish a full recovery to the injured, & pledge continued support for #Somalia to hold murderers accountable & build when others destroy,” it said. There was no immediate word on the identities of the victims, but many are believed to be civilians. Mohamed Abdirahman, director of Mogadishu’s Madina Hospital, told the AP that 40 people were admitted there with wounds or injuries from the attack. While nine were sent home after getting treatment, five are in critical condition in the ICU, he said. “We were having tea near the hotel lobby when we heard the first blast, followed by gunfire. I immediately rushed toward hotel rooms on the ground floor and I locked the door,” witness Abdullahi Hussein said by phone. “The militants went straight upstairs and started shooting. I was inside the room until the security forces arrived and rescued me.” He said on his way to safety he saw “several bodies lying on the ground outside hotel reception.” Al-Shabab remains the most lethal Islamic extremist group in Africa. The group has seized even more territory in recent years, taking advantage of rifts among Somali security personnel as well as disagreements between the government seat in Mogadishu and regional states. It remains the biggest threat to political stability in the volatile Horn of Africa nation. Forced to retreat from Mogadishu in 2011, al-Shabab is slowly making a comeback from the rural areas to which it retreated, defying the presence of African Union peacekeepers as well as U.S. drone strikes targeting its fighters. The militants in early May attacked a military base for AU peacekeepers outside Mogadishu, killing many Burundian troops. The attack came just days before the presidential vote that returned Mohamud to power five years after he had been voted out.

At least 10 people were killed in an attack by Islamic militants who stormed a hotel in Somalia’s capital late Friday, police and eyewitnesses said. Several other people were injured and security forces rescued many others, including children, from the scene of the attack at Mogadishu’s Hayat Hotel, they said. The attack started with explosions outside the hotel before gunmen entered the building. Gunfire could still be heard early Saturday as security forces tried to contain the last gunmen, who were thought to be holed up in the hotel. It was unclear how many militants remained on the hotel’s top floor. Also read: Somali forces kill 20 al-Shabab militants in central region The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest of its frequent attempts to strike places that are often visited by government officials. There was no immediate word on the identities of the victims. “We were having tea near the hotel lobby when we heard the first blast followed by gunfire. I immediately rushed toward hotel rooms on the ground floor, and I locked,” eyewitness Abdullahi Hussein told the AP by phone. “The militants went straight upstairs and started shooting. I was inside the room until the security forces arrived and rescued me.” He said that on his way to safety he saw “several bodies lying on the ground outside hotel reception.”

Gunmen shot dead four people including two police in northwestern Pakistan in an attack targeting a provincial lawmaker from former Prime Minister Imran Khan's political party, police said. Lawmaker Malik Liaqat Khan — no relation to Imran Khan — of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party was wounded in the attack late Saturday along with three others and was hospitalized in the provincial capital of Peshawar, police said. Read: Pakistan says army general, 5 others die in helicopter crash No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The assault took place in the Maidan area of the Lower Dir district of conservative Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which is governed by Khan’s party. Police officer Zar Badshah said among those killed were the nephew and brother of the PTI lawmaker, who was returning home after attending a funeral late Saturday. The area has been a stronghold of late religious leader Sufi Mohammad, who preached a strict version of Islam in the 1990s and later led his followers in fighting in Afghanistan against the U.S. and allied forces. It remained under the influence of the Pakistani Taliban until 2009.