Boko Haram Islamists slaughter 135 in two days

The Islamist terrorist organ­isation Boko Haram is accused of killing 135 people in two days of bloody attacks. On Tuesday, 118 people died in a double bomb attack in the central city of Jos. On Wednesday, 17 people were reported killed in an attack on a village in north-east Nigeria, close to the village of Chibok where hundreds of schoolgirls were seized five weeks ago.

Witnesses in the village of Alagarno told the BBC that terrorists arrived close to midnight and killed and looted for several hours. Both villages are in a Christian-majority part of Borno State.

Dr Khataza Gondwe of the ecumenical rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide, writing on The Tablet website, faulted the UK and the US Governments for not designating Boko Haram a terrorist organisation until mid- and late-2013 respectively.