Suspected Boko Haram gunmen opened
fire on villagers and torched a number of buildings in a new attack in
northeast Nigeria.
Resident Ahmad Ali told BraveHeart that
roughly two dozen assailants, who were “obviously Boko Haram fighters” stormed
the village of Kwajaffa at dusk on Sunday and ordered residents out of their
homes.
Locals thought the Islamist
insurgents “were going to preach and leave”, but in fact they “opened fire on
the crowd”
Ali said the death toll likely
passed two dozen but no other eye witnesses could be reached immediately to
confirm the figures.
“They then went on setting fire to
homes, burning half of the village before they left,” he added.
Kwajaffa lies in the southern part
of Borno state, one the regions hit hardest during Boko Haram’s deadly six-year
uprising.
Details of attacks often take time
to emerge, given the poor communications infrastructure in the embattled
region.
Babagana Mustapha said a relative
who fled the attack in Kwajaffa arrived at his home in southern Borno’s
commercial hub of Biu, 35 kilometres (22 miles) from Kwajaffa, at 11:30 pm
(1030 GMT) on Sunday.
This relative reported similar
details concerning the attack, including a number of casualties, Mustapha told BraveHeart.
Nigeria’s military — backed by
forces from Chad, Niger and Cameroon — has claimed huge victories over Boko
Haram in the northeast over the last two months, retaking a series of towns and
villages previously under rebel control.
But experts have warned that
hit-and-run attacks by the group could increase amid the added military
pressure.
The Islamist militants killed
seven people going to a market in southern Chad on Friday, and then set
improvised landmines on the road close to the Nigerian border.
Nigerian President Goodluck
Jonathan’s perceived mishandling of the Islamist insurgency was seen as a main
reason for his overwhelming defeat in the northeast in last month’s general
elections.
Nigeria’s president-elect
Muhammadu Buhari will not take charge of the fight against Boko Haram until
late May, but he has vowed to be a more effective commander-in-chief than
Jonathan, in part by ensuring that the military is properly funded and
equipped.
Aside from the use of force,
Buhari has pledged to use so-called “soft power” to stem the killing, including
much-needed development programmes targeted specifically at the impoverished
region.
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