LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP)—The Nigerian military said Sunday it had rescued 31 worshippers seized from Easter celebrations in northwestern Kaduna state, though at least five others were killed, as the country’s security comes increasingly under international scrutiny.

Gunmen raided a Catholic and an evangelical church, the Christian Association of Nigeria chairman for Kaduna state Caleb Bawa Ma’aji told AFP.

The kidnapping at a village located around 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of the capital, Abuja, occurred despite the police chief ordering a “massive security deployment” including at places of worship during the Easter festival.

“Through a swift response, (troops) have successfully foiled a terrorist attack leading to the rescue of 31 civilians abducted during an Easter church service” in the village of Ariko, the military said in a statement.

The troops engaged the attackers in a “firefight”, forcing the “terrorists to abandon 31 hostages”, the military said.

It said five victims had been killed by the attackers, but said Ma’aji, seven people were killed”. during the attack.

“The incident that happened this morning was quite unfortunate,” said Ma’aji.

In January, bandits rounded up more than 170 worshippers from three churches during mass in Kaduna.

Authorities said 80 escaped and the rest were released following negotiations after three weeks in custody.

Kaduna is one several states in northwest and central Nigeria that have for years been terrorised by criminal gangs called bandits that carry out deadly raids on communities and kidnap for ransom.

Despite the bandits being motivated by financial gains, they are increasingly collaborating with jihadists from the northeast.

It was unclear if the military’s use of “terrorists” was referring to jihadists or bandits.

While the army has been beefing up its deployment to the region to combat the groups, Nigeria has continued to see a rise in violence.

That has drawn the attention of US President Donald Trump, who has alleged there is a “genocide” of Christians in Nigeria.

In a separate incident, Nigeria’s military killed 65 bandits in Zamfara state, according to a security report seen by AFP on Sunday.

The offensive was carried out in the northwestern Zamfara state where police on Saturday confirmed a mass kidnapping carried out earlier in the week. But the army offensive was in a different district from where the kidnapping was reported.

At “least 65 bandits” had been killed, in what the security report called a “major breakthrough”.