Boko Haram kills 32 in Nigeria

Maiduguri (Nigeria), Dec 18

Boko Haram has kidnapped at least 185 persons, including women and children, in north-east Nigeria, the latest mass abduction in a region where the military has repeatedly struggled to protect civilians, officials and witnesses said today.

The attack, conducted Sunday by well-armed Islamist extremists in the town of Gumsuri, also killed 32 persons. It recalled the April kidnappings in Chibok, where more than 200 girls were taken from a school.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who is standing for re-election in the February 14 polls, had pledged that the Chibok attack would mark the beginning of the end of terrorism in Nigeria, but violence has escalated since.

The Islamists have a carried out a series of abductions this year, boosting their supply of child fighters, porters and young women who have reportedly been used as sex slaves.

Boko Haram has not claimed the Gumsuri attack, but multiple sources in the village blamed the extremists whose five-year uprising has killed more than 13,000 people and forced more than 1.5 million others from their homes.

A convoy of gunmen stormed Gumsuri in Borno state on Sunday, throwing petrol bombs into buildings and leaving much of the village destroyed, two local officials and a witness said. — AFP

Cameroon army kills 116 militants

Yaounde: Cameroon’s army killed 116 Boko Haram militants on Wednesday when they attacked a base in the Far North region of the country, said defence ministry spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Didier Badjeck. Boko Haram has killed hundreds of people this year, mostly in northeastern Nigeria, as it continues a campaign for an Islamist state.— Reuters

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