Gunmen kill 36 in attacks on two northern Nigerian states

ABUJA (Reuters) - Gunmen killed 36 people in two attacks in northern Nigeria on Wednesday, a day after insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades amid worsening security facing Africa's most populous nation, officials and residents said.

The series of attacks by armed bandits occurred over the past 48 hours with 18 people killed each in villages of Kaduna and Katsina states and several others injured. The assailants burnt down houses, displacing the villagers.