Boko Haram insurgents attack a village in northeastern Nigeria

(Baonghean.vn) - Boko Haram insurgents kidnapped at least 185 women and children, and killed 32 people in a raid in northeastern Nigeria this week, local officials and residents said.

Gunmen in trucks attacked the village of Gumsuri, just north of Chibok, on Sunday, gunning down the men before rounding up the women and children. “They rounded up the women and children and took them away in trucks after burning most of the village to the ground with petrol bombs,” said a local government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Refugees arrive in Maiduguri after Boko Haram attack

News of the attack took four days to emerge because of a lack of communications. Telecommunications towers in the area had been knocked out in previous attacks. Local officials learned of the attack from residents fleeing to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, where officials had moved a year earlier to escape Boko Haram attacks.

The militants stormed the village from two directions, capturing local vigilantes who had resisted Boko Haram attacks over the past year, said Gumsuri Umar Ari, who walked four days to Maiduguri. “They destroyed almost half the village and took 185 women and children,” Ari said.

A villager named Modu Kalli said the gunmen fired heavy machine guns into the village and poured petrol canisters on houses before setting them on fire. “We lost everything in the attack,” Kalli said. Hundreds of Gumsuri residents are continuing to arrive in Maiduguri, which is struggling to accommodate thousands of people who have fled towns and villages attacked by Boko Haram.

Boko Haram group is behind many attacks in Northern Nigeria

Boko Haram has been terrorizing northern Nigeria on a regular basis since 2009, attacking police, schools, churches and civilians, and even bombing government buildings. This month, a female Boko Haram fighter blew herself up and killed five people in Maiduguri. Last month, suicide bombings killed nearly 180 people. More than half of those were killed in an attack on a mosque that many suspect Boko Haram was behind. In April, Boko Haram fighters were widely condemned for kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls, many of whom were sold into slavery.

According to a report by the US Congressional Research Service, at least 5,000 people have been killed at the hands of Boko Haram, making it one of the most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world.

Pham Tien Hoan