Boko Haram ‘burned children alive’ in Nigeria village attack

The death toll of last Saturday night’s attack at Dalori, on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the northeast Nigeria’s Borno State capital has increased to 85, a top health official said. It wasn’t until later, when more heavily-armed backup arrived, that they were able to chase the militants away. He said several of his family members were killed or wounded.

The bombers in the northeastern town from which Boko Haram abducted scores of schoolgirls were men wearing hijabs with explosives strapped to their backs to look like babies, Nigeria’s military said Friday. It was the third and most deadly attack in a week attributed to Boko Haram, per Reuters.

Residents tell the Times that gunman came in two cars and a motorcycle and began shooting indiscriminately and lighting homes on fire.

“They detonated two bombs, which added to our fright and confusion. Everybody fled into the bush from where we saw our homes burning”, said Sheriff. But the assault was repelled by Nigerian troops, according to a report on the massacre by Al Jazeera.

“We slept in the bush with no blankets despite the chilling weather”, Kyari said.

Attacks have continued in the region despite claims by President Muhammadu Buhari late past year that Nigeria had “technically” won the war against the terror group. During the last seven years, thousands of people have been killed and others have been displaced while the territory is trying to become an Islamist stated. They “were intercepted and subsequently got blown up”. It houses around 20,000 people.

The group, a severe and violent religious sect opposed to secular education and the Nigerian state, launched an insurgency in the early 2000s that has gained traction in recent years.

The group radicalized in part because of the national discord between Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim North and a mostly Christian South.

Amao told reporters that the air component has intensified air strikes against the Boko Haram terrorists in continuation of the counter-terrorism operations under Operation Lafiya Dole.

Nigeria is the birthplace of the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram – known for their hate of western education.