Armed gangs stormed an illegal mining site and a village in northwestern Nigeria's Zamfara state, killing 17 people, local authorities told AFP on Tuesday.

Bandits have, for years, terrorised rural communities in northwest and central Nigeria, raiding villages, abducting residents and looting and burning homes.

Dozens of gang members on motorcycles swept into the mine outside Bindin village in Zamfara's Maru district on Monday, shooting dead five miners.

They then entered the village and killed 12 soldiers in a shootout, authorities said.

Gold interest

Local village councillor Abdullahi Musa Mutunji confirmed the deaths, adding that they were in retaliation for the killing of a bandit by miners he had threatened, Mutunji said.

Lawan Wanzam told AFP his son was among the miners killed in Monday's attack that he said was orchestrated by a local gang leader.

Gangs regularly target workers in the informal gold mining sector, demanding control of sites and a share of their gold.