Eight security officers killed in Zamfara ambush on Gusau-Funtua road

Gunmen ambushed a convoy of security personnel on Thursday along the Gusau–Funtua road in Tsafe area of Zamfara State, killing eight security officers, state officials and police said. The patrol was responding to a distress call at Tungawa village when the attackers opened fire, officials said.

Zamfara Governor Dauda Lawal said the dead included five police officers and three members of a local Community Protection Guards unit that works with law enforcement. A police statement confirmed that five police officers were killed but did not mention the three militia members named by the governor. The bodies of the slain personnel have been taken to Gusau for burial, local officials said.

Witnesses in parts of Tsafe and nearby Maru local government areas reported hearing heavy gunfire as joint security teams exchanged fire with the attackers. State authorities said reinforcements were deployed to the area to pursue fleeing assailants and to prevent further incursions. The police said security forces engaged the attackers in a shootout during which several of the gunmen were neutralized and others fled, without providing casualty figures for the assailants.