Islamists slaughter villagers

Chanting “Allah is great”, suspected Islamic militants gunned down dozens of villagers and slit the throats of others in the latest attack in a north-east Nigerian area where the military has been bombing extremists in forest hideouts, survivors told Associated Press (AP).

Local government chairman Maina Ularamu told AP he had heard of more than 50 people killed in last Saturday night’s attack on Izghe village in Borno state.

On Sunday afternoon, funeral rites were held for 52 Muslim victims at the central mosque in the nearby town of Madagali, mosque officials confirmed. One survivor said the village list of those killed amounted to 63 dead. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

He said the attackers looted the village food stores, set ablaze mud homes with thatched roofs and made off with about 10 vehicles.

Survivors said they were among hundreds of people from Izghe and neighbouring villages who fled on foot through the bush in the night from Borno into Adamawa, two of three north-east Nigerian states under a state of emergency to halt a four-year-old Islamist uprising. The area is dotted by mainly Christian villages in a predominantly Muslim region, but the terrorists have killed Christians and Muslims indiscriminately, with frequent attacks on mosques and churches.

On Wednesday, the air force began daily aerial bombardments near Izghe of terrorist hideouts in the Sambisa Forest along the border with Cameroon. Soldiers moved in on foot following the bombing and at least nine troops and several terrorists were killed in a fierce hours-long battle, according to hospital and military sources.

After that attack, Mr Ularamu urged the military to deploy more troops, saying the soldiers are outnumbered and outgunned by terrorists armed with anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons as well as armoured cars looted during attacks. Islamists want to create an Islamic state in Nigeria.