LAGOS, May 22 (Xinhua) -- At least 68 local bandits have been killed and others wounded in clashes with the army in the northwest Nigeria's Zamfara state since April, an army commander said Tuesday.

Udeagbala Kennedy, Commander of the Nigerian Army Brigade Command Sokoto, told reporters in Gusau, the state capital, that six suspected kidnappers were arrested, while two soldiers died during the military operation.

He said the bandits attacked Birane and Bawar-Daji villages of the state in February and April, which led to the death of 64 people.

He told reporters that the Nigerian army and other security agencies commenced the clearance operation to rid out all the bandits and curtail the banditry activities in the state.

More than a dozen attacks have been recorded in the state since the beginning of this year despite efforts to calm the situation by the Buhari administration.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari recently visited Zamfara where he met with traditional and community leaders over the security situation.

Last month, Buhari ordered deployment of troops to Zamfara to end the incessant killings by armed bandits that claimed over 100 lives in the past few months.