How Boko Haram Suicide bomber kills five outside mosque in Borno

(Reuters) - A suicide bomber targeting worshippers at a mosque in a remote village in northeast Nigeria killed five people and wounded dozens, a security source said on Saturday, in an area where Islamist insurgents are mounting attacks almost daily.

The source, who declined to be named, said Muslims in the village of Konduga, in the northeasterly Borno state, were observing Friday prayers when the pick-up truck approached.

A local vigilante group stopped the truck to inspect it and the bomber then detonated the bomb a few metres away from the mosque, he said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Islamist group Boko Haram is likely to be the prime suspect.

In a separate attack, also on Friday evening, insurgents fired on a military base in the northeastern town of Damboa with rocket-propelled grenades, Gideon Jubrin, police spokesman for Borno state, said. He had no information on casualties.

More than 50 insurgents, 6 soldiers killed as Boko Haram attacks Nigerian military formation – DHQ

At least 50 members of the insurgent Boko Haram group were killed on Friday night after the group attacked a military location in Damboa, Borno State, the Defence Headquarters, DHQ, has said.

The spokesperson of the DHQ, Chris Olukolade, said the insurgents “stormed the troops’ bases and police locations while most of the troops were out on patrol of surrounding villages.”

Mr. Olukolade also said six soldiers including a “senior officer” were killed as soldiers battled to repel the insurgents.

Mid-Night Battle: Borno villagers foil Boko Haram attack, kill 200 insurgents, arrest 10

The residents of Rann, the headquarters of Kala-Balge local government area in north eastern part of Borno State  fought off invading Boko Haram gunmen in an early morning attack, killing at least 200 sect members with about 10 also caught alive, officials and locals from the area said

The insurgents had repeatedly attempted to attack Kalabalge, an agro-nomad community near the Cameroon borders, but failed to gain entry into the village on each attempt. Sources said the insurgents, numbering over 300 stormed Rann and adjoining villages around 4 am today but met resistance from the people who had knowledge of the impending attack

Boko Haram: Borno needs more troops - Shettima

The governor of the north-eastern Nigerian state of Borno has called for more troops to be deployed to combat Boko Haram Islamist militants.

Kashim Shettima was speaking during a visit to the town of Konduga, where 39 died in an attack on Tuesday.

A mosque and more than 1,000 homes were also razed to the ground, residents said.

Boko Haram has been conducting a four-year campaign of violence to push for Islamic rule in northern Nigeria.

Last May, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Borno and the neighbouring states of Adamawa and Yobe in a bid to stop their insurgency.

But  military is once again facing criticism for not doing more to protect the people of the north-east and failing to detect and attack another convoy of Boko Haram militants.

'Better motivated'

An eyewitness in Konduga, about 35km (22 miles) from the Borno state capital Maiduguri, said the militants arrived in many vehicles, planted a black flag in the middle of the town before going on the rampage shooting people, slitting the throats of some of their victims and torching buildings.

"Frankly speaking officers and men of the Nigerian army and the Nigerian police force are doing their best given the circumstances but you and I know that Boko Haram are better armed and better motivated," Mr Shettima said.

"They are putting in their best given the circumstances they have found themselves in but there is a need for additional troops and support for the military," the governor said.

It is not clear how many troops are in the region, but thousands more were deployed last year when Mr Jonathan imposed emergency rule, saying every resource of the armed forces would be used to combat the militants.

Frustrated by their efforts, the president then replaced his top military brass on 16 January.

The attack on Konduga is thought to have been the biggest in the restive region since those new appointments.

BBC

Boko Haram Gunmen Raided Villages In Borno State Killing Civillians

- AFP Kano - Suspected Islamist Boko Haram gunmen raided two villages in Nigeria's restive northeast, torching homes and markets in attacks that killed at least four people and sent residents fleeing, witnesses and aid workers said on Wednesday.

Both raids occurred late on Tuesday in Borno state, a stronghold of the Boko Haram Islamist group that is waging a brutal extremist insurgency in the region.

Shortly before sundown, scores of gunmen in 4x4 trucks stormed the village of Konduga, spraying gunfire indiscriminately and setting the place on fire, said Bukar Mai Rembe, a Nigeria Red Cross worker in Konduga.

"The attack forced residents to flee the town into the bush while the gunmen went about setting fire to houses and markets," he told AFP, declining to give casualty figures.

"It was crazy," resident Sanda Goni said, adding that "hundreds" of houses had been burned in the attack that lasted roughly five hours.

"Most of residents are still in the bush, afraid to return to the town," he said.

Separately late Tuesday, gunmen opened fire in the village of Wajirko, before retreating during a shoot-out with soldiers deployed in the area, resident Adamu Maude said.

"We lost four people in the attack and six more have been taken to hospital," he said, adding that the attackers razed about 50 houses.

A similar attack last month in the village of Kawuri left at least 52 people dead, according to Borno state police, although local residents put the death toll at 85.

Borno and the neighbouring states of Adamawa and Yobe have been under emergency rule since May last year in a bid to stop the Islamist rebellion, which has claimed thousands of lives since 2009.

Attacks have continued in remote areas as well as in cities despite a military operation launched in the northeast when emergency rule was declared.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who has voiced frustration with the progress of the operation, replaced his top military brass on 16 January.

Borno State: How Boko Haram kills 74 in church attacks, 300 houses set ablaze

Boko Haram insurgents on Sunday evening attacked another village in Borno State, killing a soldier and 51 other persons. About 16 others, including policemen and traders, were injured while 300 houses were set ablaze by the insurgents in Kawuri, Konduga Local Government Area of the state.

Another set of the Boko Haram fighters, armed with guns and explosives, had earlier on Sunday killed 22 people at a church service in Waga Chakawa, Adamawa State.

The Kawuri village attackers were said to have planted several explosives in the community after attacking the nearby weekly market as traders were busy getting ready to close their stalls.

An eyewitness said those who sustained varying degrees of burns were rushed to the Konduga General Hospital and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital for treatment.

Bulama Kuliri, a resident of the village, told journalists that the attack lasted for more than four hours.

He said, “I believe more than 50 people were killed in the attack because the whole village was razed by the Boko Haram people. There were loud explosions from different directions and dead bodies littered many parts of the village.”

Another eyewitness, Ari Kolomi, told the Associated Press that “no house in the village was left standing.”
“The gunmen were more than 50 and they were using explosives and heavy-sounding guns,” he added.

A soldier said two more improvised explosive devices exploded early on Monday morning, narrowly missing security personnel who were busy collecting corpses.

One of the police officers that evacuated the wounded victims, also confirmed that at least 52 people were killed and 16 injured.

The state Police Commissioner, Lawan Tanko, confirmed the attack but said he was awaiting details on casualties.

A protocol officer in the Government House told journalists that Governor Kashim Shettima was advised to cancel his “planned visit” to the community because “the military were still conducting an operation in the area.”

Shettima later met behind closed doors with military and police officers in the state over the incident.
In Waga Chakawa, witnesses told Reuters that insurgents set off bombs and fired into the congregation in the Catholic Church in a village in Adamawa State.

They said the insurgents also burnt houses and took residents hostage during the four-hour siege.
The spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Yola, Rev. Father Raymond Danbouye, said those killed were buried at a funeral on Monday.


In the last one week, over 100 persons have been killed in attacks by members of the terror group. These attacks, according to the United Nations, led to 6,000 persons fleeing to neighbouring countries like Cameroon and Niger Republic.

On January 14 for instance, a car bomb exploded in Maiduguri, killing about 70 people.

Communities like Kwaljiri, Kaya, Ngawo Fate, Limanti, Njaba, Yahuri, Mude, Wala and Alau in the Damboa, Konduga and Gwoza Local Government Areas have all been sacked by the terrorists.