Three suspected robbers shot dead in police operation on Anwiankwanta–Obuasi highway

Police in the Ashanti Region have shot and killed three men suspected of plotting a highway robbery along the Anwiankwanta–Obuasi road.

The Ashanti South Regional Police Command said the suspects – identified as Seidu Issah, Musah Yakubu and Yahaya Munkaila, also known as Tijani – were intercepted on 24 December 2025 after officers picked up intelligence that a gang planned to attack road users.

According to police, the men had gathered in a bushy area between Anwiankwanta and the Jacobu junction when officers moved in. The suspects allegedly opened fire, prompting the police to return fire, fatally wounding three while two others escaped.

At the scene, officers recovered two pump-action shotguns loaded with ammunition, an unbranded pistol, twenty-five live cartridges and six spent shells. The injured suspects were taken to the Bekwai Municipal Hospital, where they were pronounced dead. Their bodies have been deposited at the morgue for preservation and autopsy.

Investigators believe the men were linked to a series of violent incidents in the area, including the robbery at the Jacobu “airport” area on 3 November 2025 which resulted in the killing of a security guard, several highway robberies along the Manso stretch, the Antoakrom robbery, the Abofour forest robbery near Offinso, and an attack on a gold buyer at Anwiankwanta on 8 December 2025.

In a subsequent search operation on 26 December at a palm plantation near Manso Nkwanta, where the gang is thought to have hidden weapons, police say they retrieved an AK-47 assault rifle, an MG3 rifle, another pump-action gun, a single-barrel shotgun, assorted ammunition and personal effects.

The Command says efforts are ongoing to trace the source of the weapons and to track down the remaining members of the group who are currently on the run.