Nigeria - Attacks Tied To Islamist Sect Kill At Least 30 In Potiskum
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Gunmen killed seven people in the northeastern city of Potiskum on Saturday, raising the death toll to at least 30 during three days of violence, the police and residents said.
The gunmen, suspected of being members of the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram, shot and killed seven people, including a retired customs chief and his son, whose house was looted before it was burned early on Saturday, the police and neighbors said.
Potiskum, the commercial hub of Yobe State, has been hit hard by near daily acts of violence in recent weeks.
Before Saturday’s shootings, attacks by people thought to be Islamists that began on Thursday had already left at least 23 other people dead and several buildings destroyed.
A nurse at the general hospital in Potiskum said Saturday that 20 bodies had been delivered to the morgue, and residents said at least three bodies had been buried by relatives after Thursday’s attacks.
“Most of them have gunshot wounds, but some had their throat slit,” said the nurse, who asked not to be identified.
Soldiers have often responded brutally to attacks in northeastern Nigeria and have been accused of killing civilians and burning homes in the past. It was not clear whether soldiers were responsible for any of the destruction in Potiskum. Residents said attackers threw homemade bombs at houses.
In Maiduguri, also in the northeast and the base of the Islamist sect, fires set off by homemade bombs burned down 11 roadside shops, the military said in a statement.
A Chinese construction worker was also shot and killed in the city on Friday, a state official confirmed.
Late Friday, the military said it had arrested a member of Boko Haram at the house of a Nigerian senator in Maiduguri, but it did not provide further details.
Violence linked to Boko Haram’s insurgency in northern and central Nigeria, including killings by security forces, is believed to have left more than 2,800 people dead since 2009.
Boko Haram has said that it is seeking to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria, though its demands have repeatedly shifted.
The sect is believed to include a number of factions, and imitators and criminal groups carry out violence under its guise.
Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group based in New York, said this month that both the Nigerian security forces and Boko Haram might be guilty of crimes against humanity.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer, is divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.
News Source: AFP
Potiskum, the commercial hub of Yobe State, has been hit hard by near daily acts of violence in recent weeks.
Before Saturday’s shootings, attacks by people thought to be Islamists that began on Thursday had already left at least 23 other people dead and several buildings destroyed.
A nurse at the general hospital in Potiskum said Saturday that 20 bodies had been delivered to the morgue, and residents said at least three bodies had been buried by relatives after Thursday’s attacks.
“Most of them have gunshot wounds, but some had their throat slit,” said the nurse, who asked not to be identified.
Soldiers have often responded brutally to attacks in northeastern Nigeria and have been accused of killing civilians and burning homes in the past. It was not clear whether soldiers were responsible for any of the destruction in Potiskum. Residents said attackers threw homemade bombs at houses.
In Maiduguri, also in the northeast and the base of the Islamist sect, fires set off by homemade bombs burned down 11 roadside shops, the military said in a statement.
A Chinese construction worker was also shot and killed in the city on Friday, a state official confirmed.
Late Friday, the military said it had arrested a member of Boko Haram at the house of a Nigerian senator in Maiduguri, but it did not provide further details.
Violence linked to Boko Haram’s insurgency in northern and central Nigeria, including killings by security forces, is believed to have left more than 2,800 people dead since 2009.
Boko Haram has said that it is seeking to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria, though its demands have repeatedly shifted.
The sect is believed to include a number of factions, and imitators and criminal groups carry out violence under its guise.
Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group based in New York, said this month that both the Nigerian security forces and Boko Haram might be guilty of crimes against humanity.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer, is divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.
News Source: AFP
