Maiduguri,Nigeria: Suspected
Islamist militants pretending to be
preachers rounded up and killed at
least 42 villagers in northeastern
Nigeria, a police source said, as an
escalating insurgency increasingly
targets civilians.
The shootings on the outskirts of the
city of Maiduguri late on Wednesday
came a day after officials said
raiders killed scores in three other
settlements in Borno state, where
the Boko Haram militant group first
launched its campaign to carve out
an Islamist caliphate.
The attackers, who were wearing
military-style uniforms, drove into
the village of Bardari, told people to
gather for a sermon and opened fire,
the police source told Reuters. "The
people couldn't identify them in
time as terrorists," the source
added.
No group claimed responsibility for
the attack. But Boko Haram has
stepped up its revolt and mounted
nearly daily attacks in the area since
it made world headlines in April by
abducting more than 200 schoolgirls
in another part of the state.
The mass abduction, and Boko
Haram's fightback against a military
offensive, has increased political
pressure President Goodluck
Jonathan, who has faced regular
street protests by activists criticising
his response.
Jonathan has accepted help from
the United States and other foreign
powers who are alarmed at the
prospect of further turmoil in Africa's
largest economy and oil producer,
and its potential impact on a fragile
region. Borno state borders Niger,
Chad and Cameroon.
Islamist militants pretending to be
preachers rounded up and killed at
least 42 villagers in northeastern
Nigeria, a police source said, as an
escalating insurgency increasingly
targets civilians.
The shootings on the outskirts of the
city of Maiduguri late on Wednesday
came a day after officials said
raiders killed scores in three other
settlements in Borno state, where
the Boko Haram militant group first
launched its campaign to carve out
an Islamist caliphate.
The attackers, who were wearing
military-style uniforms, drove into
the village of Bardari, told people to
gather for a sermon and opened fire,
the police source told Reuters. "The
people couldn't identify them in
time as terrorists," the source
added.
No group claimed responsibility for
the attack. But Boko Haram has
stepped up its revolt and mounted
nearly daily attacks in the area since
it made world headlines in April by
abducting more than 200 schoolgirls
in another part of the state.
The mass abduction, and Boko
Haram's fightback against a military
offensive, has increased political
pressure President Goodluck
Jonathan, who has faced regular
street protests by activists criticising
his response.
Jonathan has accepted help from
the United States and other foreign
powers who are alarmed at the
prospect of further turmoil in Africa's
largest economy and oil producer,
and its potential impact on a fragile
region. Borno state borders Niger,
Chad and Cameroon.
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