Sahel: Boko Haram strikes in Konduga, Nigeria, killing 13

Suspected Boko Haram jihadists have killed 13 people including three soldiers in two separate attacks in northeast Nigeria, local militias told AFP Sunday. Gunmen launched a predawn attack on Saturday on a base in Wulari, a village near the town of Konduga in Borno State, according to two anti-jihadist militias working alongside the military.

“The Boko Haram terrorists used the cover of darkness and cornfields that are nearing harvest to launch the attack on the base,” said Ibrahim Liman, one of the militia leaders. “The soldiers engaged them in a fierce battle in which three soldiers were killed before the attack was subdued and the gunmen forced to withdraw,” Liman said. Another militia leader, Babakura Kolo, gave the same toll.

Late on Saturday, suspected Boko Haram jihadists also rounded up 10 farmers and shot them dead as they were working in their field in Maiwa, a village five kilometres (just over three miles) outside the Borno state capital of Maiduguri. “All the 10 farmers bore gunshot wounds,” said militia leader Umar Ari. Four more farmers are still missing and presumed to have been kidnapped by the jihadists, said Liman, who gave the same toll.

Boko Haram and the rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have increasingly targeted loggers, herders, farmers, fishermen and metal scrap collectors in their violent campaign, accusing them of spying and passing information to the military and the local militias fighting them. Boko Haram has in recent weeks intensified the attacks on farmers, forcing many to keep off their farms. At least 40,000 people have been killed and around two million displaced in the 14-year jihadist conflict, which has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the militants.

Western officials and observers have commented that last month’s coup in Niger came at a precarious time when several Islamist terror groups including Boko Haram were regaining strength. The West African regional bloc ECOWAS has approved the deployment of a “standby force to restore constitutional order” in Niger. But ECOWAS has yet to provide details on the force or a timetable for action, and the leaders have emphasised they still want a peaceful solution.

AFP