ICC Note: Islamic extremists Boko Haram stuck again in northeast Nigeria, killing at least 24 people, according to Reuters. While details remain unclear about who was the intended target, ICC’s ground sources reveal that the Damboa area where the assault happened is near where majority Christian villages in southern Borno state have been ransacked in the past. During these kinds of attacks, survivors have testified to the fighters going in to specifically target Christians for murder.
9/2/15 Damboa, Nigeria (Reuters) – Suspected Boko Haram gunmen on horseback killed at least 24 people in two separate attacks on villages in northeast Nigeria, military and vigilante sources said on Wednesday.
The gunmen opened fire and threw explosive devices in Kolori and Ba’ana Imam, in Damboa Local Government, Borno state, in the attacks on Monday evening.
Although nobody has claimed responsibility and the militants are rarely on horseback, the attacks bore the hallmarks of the Islamist group, which has killed thousands in its six-year-old bid to set up a state adhering to sharia law in the northeast.
More than 700 people have been killed in militant attacks since President Muhammadu Buhari took office on May 29, vowing to crush Boko Haram. Most of the recent bombings and shootings have been in Borno, the birthplace of the insurgency.
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