MAIDUGURI, Nigeria
At least 25 people have been killed over the last three days in attacks by Boko Haram on two remote villages in Nigeria’s volatile Borno State, according to local sources.
Earlier this week, militants on horseback attacked the villages of Kolori and Ba'na Iman in Borno’s Damboa local government area, Ali Bulama, the leader of a local government-backed vigilante group, told Anadolu Agency by phone.
According to Ali, the insurgents first came to Kolori on Monday evening, where they killed at least 18 people.
“They shot 18 people dead in Kolori before moving on to Ba'na Iman, where they killed another seven,” he said from Biu, the largest town in the area.
Both villages are located close to the Sambisa Forest – a known Boko Haram stronghold that was recently the target of a Nigerian army campaign.
A police source in Biu, speaking anonymously, said news of the attacks had been delayed due to the region’s poor communications infrastructure.
“We only heard about the attacks a day after they happened,” he said.
Bakura Lawan, an attack survivor, said he and several other villagers had fled to Biu – located some 40 kilometers away – on Tuesday.
President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to crush the six-year-old Boko Haram insurgency, which is said to have claimed over 30,000 lives and displaced some two million people.
