Boko Haram kills dozens in attacks on Nigerian villages
Dozens of Boko Haram gunmen dressed in military uniform stormed the villages of Gumushi, Amuda and Arbokko in northeastern Borno state using all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles, torching homes with petrol bombs and opening fire on residents as they tried to flee, military sources and witnesses said.
"Boko Haram attacked the three villages Wednesday morning in which 35 people were killed, including 26 in Gumushi," a military officer in the state capital of Maiduguri told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Local media, however, put the death toll in Gumushi at 42.
"The insurgents hurled petrol bombs into homes, setting them ablaze and shot residents as they tried to escape," he said.
He said the militants launched the raid on Gumushi around 6am (5am GMT).
Witnesses said the gunmen also launched coordinated attacks on the neighbouring farming villages of Amuda and Arbokko, 125 kilometres from Maiduguri, killing nine people and destroying scores of houses.
"The attackers came at 2am (1am GMT) when people were asleep and went about throwing Molotov cocktails into homes which exploded and set fire," resident Pirda Takweshe said.
"They then opened fire on people as they ran out of their homes, killing nine and injuring 13 others."
Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden", has stepped up deadly raids in northeast Nigeria in recent months, pillaging and burning entire villages and killing residents as part of its campaign to establish an Islamic state in the north.
In its most recent high-profile attack, militants abducted 276 schoolgirls from the village of Chibok. Fifty-seven of the girls have since escaped, but the remaining 219 are still being held hostage.
Violence blamed on the Islamist group has killed thousands since their insurgency began in earnest in 2009.
News of the latest deadly raids came as Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan vowed a "total war against terrorism".
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
