Heavily armed jihadists have carried out an \u201cextremely violent\u201d attack
\non a vital aid facility housing United Nations workers in northeast
\nNigeria, the UN said Monday.<\/p>\n
No aid workers were harmed in the assault, but a military source said
\nthat one soldier and four assailants died in the ensuing gunfight.<\/p>\n
Islamists in several trucks fitted with machine guns stormed the
\nhumanitarian hub near a camp holding 55,000 displaced people in the
\nremote town of Ngala on Saturday, humanitarian and military sources
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The UN said it \u201cwas outraged by the extremely violent attack on this key
\nhumanitarian facility where five United Nations staff were staying at
\nthe time of the incident\u201d.<\/p>\n
The attack is the latest to target aid workers trying to tackle the vast
\nhumanitarian crisis caused by the decade-long jihadist insurgency in
\nnortheast Nigeria.<\/p>\n
An aid worker said the jihadists fired anti-aircraft machine guns and
\nrocket-propelled grenades as they engaged soldiers in battle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe soldiers managed to evacuate the aid staff to their base close by
\nwhile fighting continued,\u201d the aid worker said.<\/p>\n
The UN said that an \u201centire section of the facility was burned down as
\nwell as one of the few vehicles UN agencies rely on for movement and aid
\ndelivery\u201d.<\/p>\n
UN humanitarian coordinator for northeast Nigeria Edward Kallon said he
\nwas \u201cshocked by the violence and intensity of this attack, which is the
\nlatest of too many incidents directly targeting humanitarian actors and
\nthe assistance we provide\u201d.<\/p>\n
A Nigerian military officer said that the attackers \u201chad also abandoned
\na vehicle laden with explosives intended for a suicide attack near the
\nhumanitarian hub\u201d.<\/p>\n
Twelve aid workers were killed in northeast Nigeria in 2019 as the
\nconflict has become increasingly perilous for those trying to deliver
\nhumanitarian assistance to the hundreds of thousands of displaced.<\/p>\n
Two female humanitarian workers are still being held by jihadists after
\nbeing kidnapped.<\/p>\n
The jihadist conflict in northeast Nigeria has killed 35,000 people and
\ndisplaced around two million from their homes.<\/p>\n
The jihadists have splintered into rival factions, with one group loyal
\nto long-time Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau and the other pledging
\nallegiance to the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack from
\neither faction.<\/p>\n
The violence has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon,
\nprompting the formation of a regional military coalition to fight the
\nIslamists.<\/p>\n
AP<\/p>\n
Heavily armed jihadists have carried out an \u201cextremely violent\u201d attack on a vital aid facility housing United Nations workers in northeast Nigeria, the UN said Monday. No aid workers were…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":71415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n