No fewer than 17 people have been killed by gunmen suspected to be terrorists in five communities in the Malumfashi Local Government Area of Katsina State.

It was learnt that the incident occurred on Thursday.

According to residents, the gunmen swooped on the communities located in Karfi Ward in a coordinated attack which reportedly began on Wednesday night and extended to the following morning.

The gunmen were also said to have injured several others, looted food items and valuables.

A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “The gunmen came in large numbers and invaded our community early Thursday morning after they had attacked four other communities. The bandits began operation Wednesday night and carried on till early Thursday. They killed 17 people in the communities and left many with serious injuries.”

Attempts to reach the spokesman for the Katsina Police Command, Gambo Isah, proved abortive as his phone continuously rang out on Saturday.

But a lawmaker representing the council at the state House of Assembly, Aminu Saidu, who visited the affected communities to sympathise with families of the victims, confirmed the killings on Saturday.

He said law enforcement agencies had been informed of the incident, but he did not disclose the names of affected communities.

Meanwhile, Niger State Government has imposed a curfew on some communities in the state to curtail the activities of terrorists.

Our correspondent gathered that the state government imposed the curfew in some towns in Rafi and Shiroro local government areas of the state where the terrorist attacks had been high.

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