Overview

• Residents had ambushed and killed several gunmen over the weekend, which officials say likely prompted the mosque assault.
• A report prepared for the UN and seen by AFP described the attackers as armed bandits and pointed to a reprisal after troops repelled an attempted raid nearby.
• Reuters cited a higher toll of at least 27 worshippers killed, while state authorities reported at least 13.
• Katsina has experimented with local peace deals with armed groups, but Malumfashi officials say no truce covers the area where the killings occurred.
• Officials say armed groups fund operations through kidnappings, cattle rustling and community levies, and they often hide in rainy-season crops to stage attacks.