Islamic militants kill 11 people and burn homes in late night attack in Nigeria, local officials say
MAIDUGURI, Borno (AP) — Islamist militants attacked a remote village in northeastern Nigeria overnight, killing 11 people and seriously injuring two, local officials said Wednesday. This is the latest violence in Africa’s most populous country, which has long been grappling with a complex security crisis.
The attack took place on Tuesday evening in Pubagu, a community in a remote area on the edge of the Sambisa forest in Borno state, the epicenter of Nigeria’s long struggle against an Islamic insurgency. Villagers said they buried the victims on Wednesday and blamed the attack on the extremist group Boko Haram.
Local council chairman Mwada Saidu Uba told The Associated Press that the village was previously considered a safe haven.
“Pubagu is one of the places in our commune that has never suffered such an attack until yesterday,” he said after the funeral. The two injured people were being treated at a nearby hospital, he added.
Usman Rumirgo, a local neighborhood official, said the attackers set fire to several houses before leaving the area.
Vulnerable rural communities are regularly targeted by Islamic extremists and bandits who take advantage of Nigeria’s vast rural areas and security gaps.
Among the most prominent Islamic militant groups active in Nigeria are Boko Haram and its splinter faction, affiliated with the Islamic State group and known as Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP. There are also the Lakurawa, linked to ISIS, as well as other “bandit” groups specializing in kidnapping for ransom and illegal mining.
