Nigerian Militant Kills 40 Farmers In Borno

ILLUSTRATION OF UNSPLASH/Emmanuel Ikwuegbu

JAKARTA - Suspected Islamist militants killed 40 farmers in an attack on the Dumba community in the State of Borno, Nigeria, on Sunday.

Preliminary reports show farmers getting lost outside the military-made security corridor, entering a area known for its rebel activities and being filled with landmines, state information commissioner Usman Tar said.

The militants are believed to have come from the armed group Boko Haram and its branch of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), which has long waged an insurgency in northeastern Nigeria.

Security forces are looking for farmers who escaped the attack.

Nigerian air force is investigating reports of civilian casualties in weekend airstrikes targeting armed gangs.

Soldiers and the air force are increasingly using airstrikes against increasingly large threats in the northwest and central regions posed by armed criminal groups.

Gangs of bandits killed villagers and carried out mass kidnappings.

Nigerian Air Force (NAF) spokesman Marshal Olusola Akinboyewa said late on Sunday, January 12, airstrikes in the northwestern state of Zamfara on Saturday, January 11 targeted bandits.

The air force at that time managed to save the kidnapped victim.

But residents told Reuters 15 civilians, including local security guards, were reported dead.