Jihadists linked to the so-called Islamic State group have taken
\nhundreds of hostages in a town in northeast Nigeria, locals, and militia
\nsources said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) \u201cterrorists\u201d late Tuesday
\noverran Kukawa in the Lake Chad region, seizing people who had just
\nreturned to their homes after spending nearly two years in displacement
\ncamps, said Babakura Kolo, head of a local militia<\/p>\n
\u201cThe terrorists attacked the town in 22 trucks around 4:00 pm (1600GMT)
\nyesterday and engaged soldiers guarding the town in a fierce battle,\u201d he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Residents of Kukawa, escorted by the military, had returned to the town
\njust on August 2, on the orders of the Borno state authorities.<\/p>\n
They had been living in camps in the regional capital Maiduguri, 180
\nkilometres (120 miles) away, where they fled following a bloody attack
\nin November 2018.<\/p>\n
A local chief who accompanied the residents to the town said the people
\nhad returned with the hope of cultivating their farmlands \u201conly to end
\nup in the hands of the insurgents\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know what they would do to them but I hope they don\u2019t harm
\nthem,\u201d said the chief, who asked not to be identified for safety
\nreasons.<\/p>\n
A security source who confirmed the incident to AFP said fighter jets
\nwere deployed from Maiduguri on Wednesday to \u201ctackle the situation\u201d,
\nwithout giving details.<\/p>\n
The decade-long jihadist conflict has forced around two million out of
\nthe homes, most of them from the northern part of Borno.<\/p>\n
Many have moved into squalid displacement camps in Maiduguri, where they
\nrely on handouts from international charities.<\/p>\n
In the last two years, local authorities have been encouraging the
\ndisplaced to return home, despite concern by international charities
\nthat this is not safe.<\/p>\n
Residents have been returned to five major towns since 2018, where they
\nare confined under military protection, with trenches dug around towns
\nto try to fend off jihadist raids.<\/p>\n
Despite the fortifications, the insurgents have continued to launch
\nattacks.<\/p>\n
Residents who venture out to work on their farms or collect firewood
\nhave been killed or abducted.<\/p>\n
The United Nations last Friday said 10.6 million out of the 13 million
\npeople in the conflict-ravaged states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe would
\nneed humanitarian assistance this year.<\/p>\n
It said the figures represented a 50-percent increase since last year
\nand the highest tally since the beginning of the joint humanitarian
\nresponse five years ago.<\/p>\n
AFP<\/p>\n
Jihadists linked to the so-called Islamic State group have taken hundreds of hostages in a town in northeast Nigeria, locals, and militia sources said Wednesday. Islamic State West Africa Province…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-news"],"yoast_head":"\n