Boko Haram kills 50 Nigerien soldiers, massacred civilians
Boko Haram gunmen have about 50 soldiers and massacred
civilians in a weekend attack on an island on Lake Chad, after 21 people were
shot dead in Yobe State.
The region has been relentlessly targeted by Boko Haram
throughout the jihadist group's six-year uprising, but there has been a lull in
violence in recent weeks.
A coalition of troops from Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria
has claimed major victories over the rebels since February, reportedly flushing
the militants out of areas they previously controlled.
But the latest unrest highlighted the continuing and grave
threat posed by Boko Haram, an extremist group which has killed at least 15,000
people and forced 1.5 million from their homes.
Islamist fighters travelling in motorised canoes stormed the
island of Karamga on Lake Chad before sunrise on Saturday.
Troops from Niger stationed on the island "were caught
off guard" and suffered heavy losses, said Umar Yerima, a fisherman who
witnessed the raid but managed to escape.
Niger's military has confirmed the attack but defence
officials were not immediately available to provide a death toll.
A security source in Chad who requested anonymity said Niger
lost 48 soldiers and another 36 were missing.
Another source, an official from south eastern Niger's Diffa
region, said the toll was much higher at 80 dead and some 30 missing.
Yerima said that the Islamic State group-allied militants
"turned their guns" onto civilians after overpowering the troops.
"Some sought to escape by plunging into the lake but
gunmen stood on the shore shooting them. They would aim their gun from the edge
of the lake and shoot any head that emerged from the water, shouting 'Allahu
akbar' (God is greatest)," he added.
"They burnt the entire village and went on a shooting
spree. Many residents were burnt alive in their homes."
Yerima said he managed to stay out of sight by hiding in the
long grass that lines the water's edge.
The gunmen remained on a rampage until about roughly midday
(1100 GMT), withdrawing when a military jet started bombarding the area,
according to Yerima, who estimated the civilian death toll was "huge"
but could not provide specifics.
The security source in Chad said an aerial bombardment on
the island was carried out by Chadian helicopter gunships based in Diffa.
Suspected Islamists disguised as soldiers on Friday
intercepted a group of people trying to return to their homes to collect
abandoned food supplies in northeastern Nigeria's Yobe state.
"The men, 21 of them, were stopped at Bultaram
(village) by gunmen we believe are Boko Haram who shot them dead," said
Baba Nuhu, an official with the Gujba local government in Yobe State.
Nuhu and Haruna Maram, the brother of one of the victims,
spoke from Yobe's capital Damaturu, where many Gujba residents have sought
refuge from the violence.
"My brother and 20 others wanted to bring back their
grains to augment their lean food supplies," Maram said.
"Unfortunately, they were killed by (the) same Boko Haram we ran away
from."
Gujba is one of a handful of districts in Yobe that Boko
Haram captured during its sweeping offensive last year.
It was also the scene of a gruesome massacre at an
agricultural college in 2013 that targeted students sleeping their dormitories.
Following the purported victories secured in the joint
offensive, Nigeria's military and outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan have
encouraged those displaced by the uprising to return home.
But community leaders in the embattled region have warned
civilians are still at risk, especially those returning to remote areas like
Gujba where the military's deployment has typically been thin.
Many experts agree that Boko Haram is likely to transition
from capturing and holding territory -- a tactic seen from mid-2014 -- and
revert to a pattern of hit-and-run attacks.
Analysts say boastings from regional armies should be
treated with caution, as the Islamists are far from defeated and can easily
regroup, especially if there is a let-up in the military pressure.
Nigeria's president-elect Muhammadu Buhari, an ex-army
general, takes office on May 29. He has vowed to fight Boko Haram more
effectively than Jonathan.
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