At least 45 gunmen had been killed in various anti-kidnapping operations by troops in Nigeria's north region, the military said on Thursday, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
Bernard Onyeuko, a spokesperson for the military, told reporters at a press briefing in Abuja that some 60 others were arrested during the operations by troops in the northwest and north-central parts of Nigeria in the past two weeks.
"One such operation took place at the Kwaga Forest within Birnin Gwari general area in the Kaduna state. In the course of the operation, no fewer than 40 armed bandits were neutralized and several structures which served as their logistics bases were destroyed," he said, adding that at least five other bandits were killed in another location.
The ongoing military operations are targeting areas in the northern part of the country, where gunmen, commonly called bandits in Nigeria, have been engaging in the abduction of civilians, Onyeuko said.