KANO, Nigeria, July 29, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Nigerian troops killed 45 members of an armed criminal gang in a shootout in the north-central Niger state, according to a conflict monitors' report shared with the UN and seen by AFP on Monday.

"Military troops, supported by hybrid forces and the Department of State Services (DSS), launched an ambush against armed bandits" on Friday evening, it said, adding that "a gun battle ensued, resulting in the deaths of 45 bandits and two soldiers".

It was the latest clash in an offensive by the security forces on the armed gangs known as "bandits" that have taken root across Nigeria's rural hinterlands amid poverty and government neglect.

On July 22 Nigerian troops killed at least 95 gang members during a military air and ground assault in the same state, the conflict monitor that produced the report said.

The latest violence struck on Friday in Iburu village, in the Shiroro local government area of Niger state, but the information was disclosed on Monday.

The report said that the operation was mounted following intelligence reports of a looming attack in and around Iburu.

The Nigerian military did not respond to AFP's request for comment, but a national public broadcaster, NTA, said the intelligence service DSS had confirmed the operation.

The Nigerian military has in the past been quick to publicise and sometimes exaggerate its gains. But lately it has kept relatively silent on apparent victories where scores of bandits were reported killed.

An intelligence source last week told AFP the military was changing tack after realising publicising their gains was keeping jihadists and bandits abreast of their operations.

The bandits raid, loot and burn villages, exact taxes, and conduct kidnappings for ransom.

In northwestern Nigeria's Zamfara state, bandits slaughtered 33 people they had kidnapped in February despite receiving a ransom.