A train stops at the Idu Railway Station in Abuja, Nigeria on July 26, 2016. The Abuja?Kaduna Railway is the first standard gauge railway in Nigeria. (Photo: Xinhua)

Heavily armed gunmen attacked the airport in a major northwestern Nigerian city on Saturday, battling with troops, killing a security guard and temporarily disrupting flights, authorities and a security source said.

The attack on Kaduna City airport was another escalation from armed criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, who are blamed for rising violence and mass kidnappings in northwest Nigeria.

Gunmen attacked Kaduna City airport, but were repelled by security forces, Kaduna State Security Commissioner Samuel Aruwan said on Twitter.

"Troops stationed within and around the airport responded and repelled the attackers," he said.

"The bandits unfortunately shot and killed a staff member stationed at the perimeter fence who raised alarm on sighting them."

A senior security source said the gunmen had made several attempts to attack the airport from midnight, but security forces repelled them. 

The incident led to disruption of flights. Passengers kept away from the airport as news of the attack filtered across the city, the security source said.

Authorities said flights resumed soon after the incident.

Domestic airlines serve Kaduna from Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos. 

"Security personnel have been doing their best in preventing the bandits from gaining access into the airport since last night," the security source said.

"The terrorists either want to storm the staff quarters and abduct people as they did in two previous cases or they aim to kidnap passengers and staff in their airport," said the source.

AFP