A survivor hidden in a tree says he watched Boko Haram extremists firebomb
huts and heard the screams of children among people burned to death in the
latest attack by Nigeria’s homegrown Islamic extremists.
Scores of charred corpses and bodies with bullet wounds littered the
streets from Saturday night’s attack on Dalori village just 5 kilometers
(3 miles) from Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram and the biggest
city in the northeast, according to survivors and soldiers.
The shooting and burning continued for four hours, survivor Alamin Bakura
said, weeping on a telephone call to The Associated Press. He said several
of his family members were killed or wounded.
The violence continued as three female suicide bombers blew up among
people who managed to flee to neighboring Gamori village, killing many
people, according to a soldier at the scene who insisted on anonymity
because he is not authorized to speak to journalists.
It was not known how many scores of people were killed because bodies
still were being collected, including from the surrounding bushes where
the insurgents hunted down fleeing villagers, according to Abba Shehu, a
security guard helping collect corpses.
Boko Haram has taken to attacking soft targets, increasingly with suicide
bombers, since the military last year drove them out of towns and villages
in northeastern Nigeria.
The 6-year Islamic uprising has killed about 20,000 people and driven 2.5
million from their homes.