Main PageBoko Haram kill 21 in Chibok villages
Bauchi - Boko Haram militants fleeing a Nigerian
army offensive killed 21 people on Friday in attacks
near the northern village of Chibok, close to where
the rebels abducted more than 200 schoolgirls last
year, a military source said.
The rebels were fleeing a land and air offensive to
clear them out of the Sambisa forest when they
raided the villages of Gatamarwa, Makalama and
Layhawul and opened fire on terrified residents, the
source said.
Boko Haram fighters in many parts of Nigeria and
the region are on the run, after being subjected to a
major military offensive on all sides by Nigeria and
its neighbours Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
Nigerian warplanes bombarded insurgent training
camps and caches of their weapons and vehicles in
Sambisa on Thursday.
But when Boko Haram feels threatened, the civilian
population often becomes a target. The security
source said the insurgents fleeing the Sambisa
operation had taken revenge on the civilian
population.
"They surrounded the market and started shooting,"
said Chibok resident and farmer Maina Chibok, who
visited the Gatamarwa area afterwards. "There was
pandemonium everywhere and more than 10 people
were killed."
Also read: African allies aim to pin down Boko
Haram
"Pockets to flush out"
For most of the past year, Boko Haram has been
gaining strength, seizing territory the size of Belgium
and kidnapping hundreds of people, mostly women
and children. But victories against them have
gathered pace in the past three weeks.
Nigeria's neighbours, where Boko Haram used to
flee, are pursuing a strategy of pushing them back
into the country.
Colonel Moussa Barmou of Niger, the coordinator of
the joint Niger-Chad mission, told the state-owned
Le Sahel daily that operations had "dismantled all
the supply and recruitment networks of the terrorist
group" in Niger, the most obvious path of retreat for
Boko Haram into the Sahara if Cameroon and Chad
keep up the pressure.
"There remains much to do ... but slowly, we are
getting there," he said. "There are still some pockets
to flush out."
The villages attacked are in the local government
area of Chibok, where in April last year heavily
armed Boko Haram militants attacked a girls'
secondary school at exam time and drove pupils
away in trucks.
The attacks triggered global outrage and President
Goodluck Jonathan, who faces an election on March
28, was pilloried for his perceived slow response to
the crisis.
The girls remain in captivity, but recent military
successes against Boko Haram would likely play in
his favour. His rival for the presidency, former
military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, is seen as tough
on security.
The plight of the Chibok girls has become symbol of
the devastating toll the Boko Haram insurgency has
exacted on defenceless civilians, who have been
massacred in their thousands.
The crisis has also spawned more than a million
internal and external refugees, who have trekked
through deserts, crossed rivers and hidden in
forests to escape to the relative safety of ever
swelling refugee camps.
army offensive killed 21 people on Friday in attacks
near the northern village of Chibok, close to where
the rebels abducted more than 200 schoolgirls last
year, a military source said.
The rebels were fleeing a land and air offensive to
clear them out of the Sambisa forest when they
raided the villages of Gatamarwa, Makalama and
Layhawul and opened fire on terrified residents, the
source said.
Boko Haram fighters in many parts of Nigeria and
the region are on the run, after being subjected to a
major military offensive on all sides by Nigeria and
its neighbours Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
Nigerian warplanes bombarded insurgent training
camps and caches of their weapons and vehicles in
Sambisa on Thursday.
But when Boko Haram feels threatened, the civilian
population often becomes a target. The security
source said the insurgents fleeing the Sambisa
operation had taken revenge on the civilian
population.
"They surrounded the market and started shooting,"
said Chibok resident and farmer Maina Chibok, who
visited the Gatamarwa area afterwards. "There was
pandemonium everywhere and more than 10 people
were killed."
Also read: African allies aim to pin down Boko
Haram
"Pockets to flush out"
For most of the past year, Boko Haram has been
gaining strength, seizing territory the size of Belgium
and kidnapping hundreds of people, mostly women
and children. But victories against them have
gathered pace in the past three weeks.
Nigeria's neighbours, where Boko Haram used to
flee, are pursuing a strategy of pushing them back
into the country.
Colonel Moussa Barmou of Niger, the coordinator of
the joint Niger-Chad mission, told the state-owned
Le Sahel daily that operations had "dismantled all
the supply and recruitment networks of the terrorist
group" in Niger, the most obvious path of retreat for
Boko Haram into the Sahara if Cameroon and Chad
keep up the pressure.
"There remains much to do ... but slowly, we are
getting there," he said. "There are still some pockets
to flush out."
The villages attacked are in the local government
area of Chibok, where in April last year heavily
armed Boko Haram militants attacked a girls'
secondary school at exam time and drove pupils
away in trucks.
The attacks triggered global outrage and President
Goodluck Jonathan, who faces an election on March
28, was pilloried for his perceived slow response to
the crisis.
The girls remain in captivity, but recent military
successes against Boko Haram would likely play in
his favour. His rival for the presidency, former
military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, is seen as tough
on security.
The plight of the Chibok girls has become symbol of
the devastating toll the Boko Haram insurgency has
exacted on defenceless civilians, who have been
massacred in their thousands.
The crisis has also spawned more than a million
internal and external refugees, who have trekked
through deserts, crossed rivers and hidden in
forests to escape to the relative safety of ever
swelling refugee camps.
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