BOKO HARAM LYNCHES 12 IN BORNO VILLAGES
At least 12 civilians were killed in multiple Boko Haram jihadist attacks targeting two villages and a camp for those displaced by the bloody conflict in northeastern Nigeria, civilian militia and residents told AFP Thursday.
Jihadists in seven trucks late on Wednesday attacked Bulaburin and Kofa villages as well as a camp in Dalori village outside the Borno state capital of Maiduguri.
âThe terrorists attacked and completely burnt Bulaburin and Kofa villages and burnt half the Dalori two IDP (internally displaced persons) camp,â militia leader Babakura Kolo told AFP.
âThey killed nine people in Bulaburin, two people in Dalori, and one in Kofa and looted food supplies before setting them on fire,â Kolo said.
The attack was launched in Kofa where the jihadists opened fire indiscriminately and killed one person as residents fled, said Kofa resident Musa Goni.
âThey then moved to nearby Bulaburin where they gunned down nine people and burnt the village after stealing food,â Goni said.
At Dalori 2 IDP camp, which houses 10,000 homeless people, the jihadists engaged troops and civilian militia guarding the camp in a shootout before overrunning the makeshift facility, civilian militia camp member Solomon Adamu said.
âWhen the Boko Haram gunmen came they stopped on the road overlooking the camp and started firing,â said Adamu who took part in the fight.
âSoldiers and civilian JTF (militia) at the gate engaged them in gunfight but were forced to withdraw into the camp because we were out gunned,â he said.
Residents were forced to flee and two were killed while several were injured, according to Adamu.
The jihadists invaded the camp after overrunning troops and the militia and âburnt half the campâ by setting fires and firing rocket-propelled grenades on buildings.
âOne grenade didnât explode and is still lying in the camp, waiting for bomb disposal units to evacuate it,â Adamu said.
(AFP)