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30 dead in fresh Boko Haram raids on Borno villages

By AFP
14 February 2016   |   7:54 am
At least 30 people have been killed in fresh Boko Haram raids on two villages in northeast Nigeria, vigilantes told AFP Saturday, again calling into question President Muhammadu Buhari's claim that Nigeria had largely defeated the jihadist group. Gun and knife-toting assailants on bikes and in vans stormed the remote villages of Yakshari and Kachifa…

At least 30 people have been killed in fresh Boko Haram raids on two villages in northeast Nigeria, vigilantes told AFP Saturday, again calling into question President Muhammadu Buhari’s claim that Nigeria had largely defeated the jihadist group.

Gun and knife-toting assailants on bikes and in vans stormed the remote villages of Yakshari and Kachifa on Friday and Saturday, said Mustapha Karimbe, a local vigilante assisting the military in the fight against Boko Haram Islamists.

“The attackers killed 30 people in two separate attacks on the two villages last night (Friday) and this morning (Saturday),” Karimbe told AFP adding that they also looted and stole cattle.

The village of Yakshari was attacked at around 9:30 am on Saturday, with the assailants slaughtering 22 residents “by slitting their throats before emptying food stores and taking away all the cattle”, Karimbe said, speaking from the town of Biu approximately 120 kilometres (75 miles) from the village.

Late Friday evening, meanwhile, Boko Haram Islamists also raided nearby Kachifa village, killing eight people.

“We believe the same gunmen carried out both attacks on the two villages,” Karimbe said.

Dozens of people have been killed in Boko Haram attacks in recent weeks near Maiduguri, capital of northeast Borno state, despite Buhari’s December boast that the jihadist group had been more or less defeated.

Since then the militants have killed dozens in raids and suicide attacks, including across the border in Cameroon.

On January 30, at least 85 people died when insurgents stormed and torched one village, while on Thursday two female suicide bombers killed at least 58 at a camp for people made homeless by the insurgency.

Rights group Amnesty International has also accused the military itself of committing war crimes and possible crimes against humanity in the course of its operations against the group.

Boko Haram, which seeks a hardline Islamic state in northern Nigeria, has killed some 17,000 people and forced more than 2.6 million others to flee their homes since the start of its insurgency in 2009.

3 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    Where are these book haram coming from? Are they still inside Nigeria? I thought the presidency said they have been contained. This is embarrassing, Where are they coming from and when they kill and go why can’t our military smoke them out. This is not acceptable at all. Something is not right with the way our military is fighting this war. If they are technically defeated, they should not be able to launch any attack on any village on our soil. So I suspect the government or the army is lying to us.

  • Author’s gravatar

    This is a nightmare! Please our government and the military should wake up! This is no time to play politics, innocent lives are dying by the day.. Nigerians need to take this more seriously..

  • Author’s gravatar

    Where are they Cowards Nigeria junta army, their strength and guns are targeted against unarmed IPOB and MASSOB peaceful protesters and people that are praying, but armed terrorist that need armed confrontation by the junta weakened army are nowhere to be found. Shameless animals in uniform. Animalassholes in uniform.