Jihadists killed two people and abducted 20 children in Borno state, the epicenter of the Islamist insurgency in Nigeria, AFP learned from a local official and residents of the region.
Read alsoIn “a few years”, will Nigeria have more inhabitants than the United States?
Fighters from the Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap) group invaded the village of Piyemi on Thursday, not far from Chibok, killing two men and kidnapping 20 children, including 13 girls, the sources said. The attack took place near the town of Chibok, whose name remains associated with the 2014 abduction by the Islamist group Boko Haram of more than 270 young girls aged 12 to 17, which caused a huge wave of international outrage and a campaign called #BringBackOurGirls for their release. Nearly half of them are still missing.
Looted shops, burned houses
Iswap fighters, who were wearing uniforms similar to those of the Nigerian army, entered the village on Thursday afternoon, opening fire, looting shops and burning houses in their path, according to local residents. zoned. “They shot dead two people and seized 13 girls and 7 boys, aged between 12 and 15“, testified to AFP by telephone one of them, Samson Bulus.
The attackers, who came from the forest near Sambisa “loaded the 20 children into a truck and drove them into the forestsaid another resident, Silas John. A community leader from the Chibok area, Ayuba Alamson, confirmed this information. “This is the third attack in recent days, which further sheds light on the threats hanging over the inhabitants of the villages around Chibokin northeast Nigeria, he said. The inhabitants of Piyemi who had fled their village when the jihadists arrived returned there on Friday, after spending the night outside.
Read alsoNigeria: Gunmen abduct three Chinese employees
A church was notably burned by the jihadists, according to another resident, who requested anonymity. A local authority official confirmed the attack, but was unable to say how many people had been abducted. Iswap was born in 2016 from a split from the Islamist group Boko Haram. It has become the dominant jihadist group in northeastern Nigeria, mounting large-scale attacks against the Nigerian army. It has consolidated its control in this region since the death in May of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in clashes between the two rival groups. Since the start of the radical Islamist rebellion in northeastern Nigeria in 2009, the conflict has claimed more than 40,000 lives and forced nearly two million people to leave their homes.