At least 26 people were killed in three separate Easter attacks in northern Nigeria, according to the Nigerian military and local officials.

In the north-central region, the Nigerian military said armed men attacked the Mbalom community in Gwer West, in Benue State, on Saturday. Benue State Gov. Hyacinth Alia confirmed the attacks on Sunday but did not specify how many people were killed; residents said 17 people were killed.

The violence described by officials comes amid a long-running cycle of clashes in north-central Nigeria, where disputes over land and grazing between mostly Muslim Fulani herders and largely Christian farming communities have frequently escalated into deadly violence, alongside activity by criminal gangs.

In Borno State in the northeast, the military said police officers were killed early Saturday in an attack on a police headquarters after a protracted gunfight with an Islamic State-affiliated group. Kenneth Daso, the Borno Police Public Relations Officer, said four police officers were killed after the fight.

On Sunday, in Kaduna State, the army said gunmen killed five people at an Easter service in Ariko village. The army said troops responded to a distress call and forced the attackers to abandon the abduction of 31 hostages, adding that the remains of five victims already killed by the attackers were recovered at the scene, while the fleeing attackers were believed to have sustained significant casualties indicated by blood trails along their escape routes.

Kaduna has continued to record attacks on churches and frequent abductions, according to the report. In January, officials said more than 150 worshippers were abducted from Kurmin Wali in Kaduna’s Kajuru area, about 60 kilometers from Ariko village, and similar attacks on churches have drawn international allegations that Christians face persecution.

Those allegations include claims by U.S. President Donald Trump and some American lawmakers that Nigeria’s security crisis amounts to a “Christian genocide,” which the Nigerian government rejected. The U.S. government also launched military strikes in Sokoto on Dec. 25, according to the report, allegedly targeting an Islamic State group in the region.