30 dead in Boko Haram attack on three Nigeria villages

KANO, Nigeria – Brutal attacks on three villages by Boko Haram Islamists in the restive northeast of Nigeria have left 30 dead and 20 others wounded, a vigilante told AFP.

”Most of the victims were slaughtered and most of the wounded (had suffered) machete cuts,” Mustapha Karimbe, a civilian helping the Nigerian military fight Boko Haram, said of Saturday’s attacks in the villages of Warwara, Mangari and Bura-Shika in Borno state.

News of the attacks was slow to emerge due to poor communication as a result of the destruction of telecom masts in the area in previous Boko Haram raids.

The Islamists invaded the villages, hacking and slaughtering their victims before setting the villages on fire.

The villages are near Buratai, the hometown of Nigeria’s highest military chief Tukur Yusuf Buratai.

Warwara, where 20 people were killed, was the worst killed, said Musa Suleiman, another vigilante.

The attackers killed six people in Bura-Shika and another four in Mangari, he said.

Residents of the villages fled to Biu, 30 kilometres (19 miles) away.

Buratai and nearby villages have recently been the targets of deadly raids by Boko Haram, which have left scores dead and entire villages looted and burnt down.

Residents believe the attacks are in response to the pressure that the army chief is exerting on Boko Haram in counter-insurgency military operations.

On Thursday Boko Haram insurgents killed 14 people — decapitating some of them — when they raided Kamuya village, the hometown of the army chief’s mother, and burnt it down. (AFP)