Boko Haram : Over 100 killed in fresh attack In Borno

At least 100 persons were killed and 16 towns and villages destroyed by Boko Haram Islamists in a renewed assault, local offi­cials said on Thursday.

Heavy casualties were feared in the attacks on Wednesday in the remote north of Borno State, ac­cording to local sources, but there was no independent confirmation of the figures.

Head of the Kukawa Local Government Area, Musa Bukar, said: “They (Boko Haram) burnt to the ground all the 16 towns and villages, including Baga, Doron-Baga, Mile 4, Mile 3, Kauyen Kuros and Bun­duram.”

Head of Borno’s fish traders union and a Baga native, Abubakar Gaman­di, also confirmed the at­tacks, adding that hundreds of people who fled were trapped on islands on Lake Chad.

News of the latest attacks came as Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, who has been criticised for his inability to end the insur­gency, formally launched his re-election campaign.

Jonathan’s main oppo­nent in next month’s elec­tions, former military ruler, blamed government corrupMuhammadu Buhari, has tion for the lack of sufficient firepower of the military. ­

Boko Haram fighters on Saturday captured Baga and the headquarters of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), which is made of troops from Nige­ria, Niger and Chad.

Security analysts this week said that Baga was of strategic importance to Boko Haram, as it was thought to be the last town in northern Borno under federal government control.

The militants, who have seized over two dozen towns in northeast Nigeria in the last six months, now control all three of Borno’s borders with Niger, Chad and Cam­eroun.

Bukar said the Islamists used petrol bombs and ex­plosives to destroy Baga, a key fishing and commercial hub, and surrounding vil­lages on the shores of Lake Chad.

“We have over 20,000 peo­ple displaced from Baga and surrounding villages in a camp in Maiduguri and we are making arrangements to convey another 10,000 from Monguno where they ran to,” he added.

Some 560 villagers have been stranded on an island on Lake Chad since Satur­day without food, he said.

“They told me that some of them are dying from lack of food, cold and malaria on the mosquito-infested is­land,” he said.

“I was in constant touch with them until this morn­ing when the phone they were using went off which I assume was due to dead bat­tery,” he added.