Boko Haram takes over towns in northern Nigeria, 50 more murdered
The Islamist insurgents known as Boko Haram killed at least 50 people as they stormed a town in northeastern Nigeria, overtaking those “sworn to protect it” fleeing to the nearby mountains, said Maina Kamusa per an Aug. 8 Wall Street Journal report.
Gwoza had been a stronghold of resistance against the terrorist group in Nigeria, but the attack came from “all corners” and the result was “Dead bodies littered every part of the town,” he said.
A witness detailed the attack to Reuters in their Friday coverage of the incidents.
“I could see the Boko Haram boys roaming the streets of Gwoza on motorbikes shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is Great), trying to shoot at us as we fled to the hill,” Resident Abdullahi Abubakar said by telephone in the article. “Some of them were distributing food stuffs to the women and children left behind.”
He and other witnesses detailed the gunfire from every direction, the terrorists seizing the “palace of the town’s leader” and confirmed that the new Emir of Gwoza, Idrissa Timta, who took over after the killing of his father in a Boko Haram attack in May, had been missing since the attack on his palace.
Friday the military launched strikes to push the terrorists out of Gwoza, the security sources said, and the town of Damboa, which the militants overtook a month ago. Both towns lie on roads linking Nigeria to Cameroon and Chad.
“The special operation which began early in the week is meant to restore law and order to the area and apprehend all terrorists who have been operating in the locality,” police spokesman Frank Mba announced on his website.
“The remnants of insurgents are being cleared from the communities. The mop up phase will ascertain the casualties.”
Just days ago, the group attacked and burned down more Christian churches and were now linked to the murders in Cameroon. The kidnapping of over 200 school girls earlier this year revealed the group’s expansion into Chad.
Amnesty International is reporting that the counterattacks by militias against Boko Haram reveal that they are countering violence with more violence, slitting the throats of Boko Haram suspects when they are captured.
Boko Haram is also gathering recruits in Cameroon, News 24 coverage HERE
More on the coverage from The Global Dispatch HERE
[…] a town in Borno state in northern Nigeria, was siezed by Boko Haram militants in early August. The Sunnis went house to house murdering those who would resist, kidnapped more […]
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