Suspected Islamist extremists have killed 15 Christians by slitting their throats in an attack on a village in Nigeria’s volatile northeast, residents and a relief source said on Sunday.
The gruesome violence was the latest to be blamed on Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, though this Christmas season has been notably less bloody than in 2011, when attacks on churches and other locations left scores dead.
“From the information we gathered, the attackers broke into selected homes and slaughtered 15 people in their sleep,” the relief official said on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
Authorities had previously confirmed the predawn Friday attack in Musari, but gave few details and said only five were killed. Musari is on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Boko Haram’s base.
Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, spokesman for a Nigerian military task force in the area, on Sunday told reporters that he stood by the toll of five dead, adding that some were shot and others attacked with machetes.
However Nigerian authorities tend to under-report death tolls and the relief official’s information matched that given by residents, who spoke of 15 people having their throats slit.
Speaking of the victims, the relief official said: “They included one traffic warden and 14 civilians. The victims were selected because they were all Christians, some of whom had moved into the neighborhood from other parts of the city hit by Boko Haram attacks.”
Residents said they suspected the attackers were from Boko Haram.
“The attackers came in and silently went into homes whose residents were all Christians and slit the throats of their victims. They killed 15 people,” one resident said.
An earlier military statement on the attack had said: “unknown gunmen sneaked into Musari community ... and secretly carried out selective killings of five people including a serving Nigerian police traffic warden.”
Residents said that a number of people have moved into the Musari area to flee violence in Maiduguri, which has faced incessant bombings and shootings blamed on Boko Haram.
Violence linked to Boko Haram’s insurgency in northern and central Nigeria has left about 3,000 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces.
Nigeria is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.
While Boko Haram’s victims have often included Muslims, the group has also specifically targeted Christians, including bombings of churches. There have previously been instances of victims having their throats slit in attacks.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has accused the group of seeking to ignite a religious crisis in the nation of approximately 160 million people.
During a Christmas Eve service, gunmen attacked a church in northeastern Yobe State, killing six people, including the pastor, before setting the building ablaze.
Boko Haram has claimed to be fighting for the creation of an Islamic state in Nigeria, though its demands have repeatedly shifted.
Nigeria’s military has also been accused of major abuses in its response to Boko Haram’s attacks, including killings of civilians and the burning of homes.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he would make a decision about how the US government would refer to the body of water commonly known as the Persian Gulf when he visits Arab states next week. Trump told reporters at the White House that he expects his hosts in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will ask him about the US officially calling the waterway the Arabian Gulf or Gulf of Arabia. “They’re going to ask me about that when I get there, and I’ll have to make a decision,” Trump said. “I don’t want to hurt anybody’s
RSS