By Mario Deepromoter

Unidentified gunmen sh”t d3ad seven members of the same family, including three children, in an execution-style k!lling in their home in rural South Africa, police said Thursday.

A five-year-old boy was among those k!lled in the sh**ting at a homestead in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province late Wednesday, police said. The eldest victim was a woman aged about 55, they said.

The motive for the attack in the Highflats area, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) northwest of the coastal city of Durban, was not yet known.

“We are convinced as police that it was an execution. It was a planned murder,” provincial police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi told reporters outside the house.

“Some of the victims appeared to have been shot in the head while on the floor. There was a total of about 25 bullets that were used,” he said.

The gunmen burst into the house as the family was watching television. They made one member of the family, who was outside the house, knock on the door and then opened fire once it was opened.

South Africa has one of the highest peacetime per capita homicide rates in the world.

Nearly 6,200 people were murdered in the country between April and June, according to police figures released in August.

AFP

By Mario Deepromoter

Bandits have obstructed the busy Gusau–Funtua highway, abducting an unspecified number of travellers.

According to Channels Television, Yusuf Tsafe, a commuter stranded in the area, said that the bandits set up a roadblock at the Tazame axis early on Thursday.

Armed with about 50 motorcycles, each carrying three people, the bandits abducted several travellers and remained on the road for hours.

Tsafe described how the bandits began their operation around 7 am and continued until at least 9 am.

Despite military efforts to address the situation, the road remains blocked, and no vehicles have been allowed to pass. Another commuter confirmed that the Magazu–Kucheri Road, which links Gusau to Funtua, has also been blocked by the bandits.

“They entered the road around 7 am, and till around 9am, they were still there, we just parked by the roadside waiting for the military to clear the road, we are seeing the bandits taking people inside the bush.

“The military guntruck moved to the area earlier, we were just hearing gunshots, but they are yet to open the road. Till now, no vehicle has been allowed to pass.”

Another commuter also confirmed to Channels Television that Magazu – Kucheri Road, which is also the road linking Gusau to Funtua, have been blocked by bandits this morning

“The military men asked us to stop because the bandits blocked the road, we are still waiting for them to clear the road,” the source said.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Zamfara State Police Command, ASP Yazid Abubakar, stated that additional troops, including operatives from the Nigerian Police Mobile Squad, have been deployed to clear the road.

Zamfara State, along with other regions in northwestern and central Nigeria, has been plagued by armed gangs carrying out mass abductions for ransom and engaging in widespread looting and destruction.

The people of Moriki town in the Zurmi Local Government Area of the state are in fear as the deadline given to them by notorious bandit kingpin, Bello Turji, to pay an imposed N30m levy expired, PUNCH Online earlier reported.

But reacting to the development, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, described the bandit kingpin as a deranged person, wowing that the military would soon capture him.

No fewer than three persons lost their lives in April when bandits invaded a market in Tsafe town.

In May 2024, bandits attacked no fewer than 50 communities in the Zurmi Local Government Area of the state.

By Mario Deepromoter

Two residents of Bassa community in the Shiroro Local Government Area in Niger State were killed by a group of terrorists who invaded their community on Wednesday morning.

A community source who confirmed this incident to SaharaReporters identified one of the deceased persons as Zakari, adding that three other residents were critically injured by the bandits.

The source added that the bandits also killed two personnel of the Department of State Services and injured two others during the attack that started around 5 am on Wednesday.

According to a community source, the Nigerian military later intervened, overpowering the bandits and eliminating at least 20 of their members, thereby ending the siege.

This was also confirmed by a counter-insurgency expert in the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama in his recent report.

Zagazola said intelligence sources told him that the attackers, numbering over 100, were met with fierce resistance from the DSS personnel, who lost two of their own in the battle.

He said, “The Nigerian Air Force responded swiftly to the attack, unleashing a barrage of airstrikes that inflicted heavy casualties on the bandits.

“As of the latest update, the bodies of at least 28 bandits have been recovered, with many more scattered across the area.

“In addition to the human toll, several weapons and motorcycles used by the bandits have been recovered by security forces.”

When media contacted Niger State Police Spokesman, Wasiu Abiodun for comments and update, he said: “Let me verify and get back.”

He had yet to get back at the time of filing this report.