2-Gunmen kill at least 62 in Nigeria, including in church
YOLA, Nigeria, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Suspected insurgents armed
with guns and explosives killed at least 62 people in northeast
Nigeria, including at a church service, in a region where
Islamist sect Boko Haram is resisting a military crackdown,
witnesses said on Monday.
They killed 22 people by setting off bombs and firing into
the congregation in the Catholic church in Waga Chakawa village
in Adamawa state on Sunday, before burning houses and taking
residents hostage during a four-hour siege, witnesses said.
On Monday, a separate assault by suspected members of the
shady sect killed at least 40 people in Kawuri village, in
remote northeastern Borno state, security officials said. No one
immediately claimed responsibility for either attack.
President Goodluck Jonathan is struggling to contain Boko
Haram in remote rural regions in the country's northeast corner,
where the sect launched an uprising in 2009.
Boko Haram, which wants to impose sharia law on a country
split roughly equally between Christians and Muslims, has killed
thousands over the past four and a half years and is considered
the biggest security risk in Africa's top oil exporter and
second largest economy after South Africa.
Its fighters' favourite targets have traditionally been
security forces, politicians who oppose them and Christian
minorities in the largely Muslim north.
The spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Yola, Reverend
Father Raymond Danbouye, confirmed 22 people killed in the
church were buried at a funeral on Monday.
The military and police did not respond to requests for
comment but one army source confirmed the church attack, asking
not to be named because he wasn't authorised to speak with the
media.
VILLAGE RAZED
Waga Chakawa is near the border with Borno state, in which
the second attack occurred that killed at least 40 people.
Several witnesses put the figure at 50, although none had
counted the numbers of bodies themselves. They added that the
militants had burned down the village and set off multiple
explosions, shooting anyone trying to flee.
"The whole village has been razed by Boko Haram and there
were still loud explosions from different directions as I left,
with bodies littering the village," said resident Bulama Kuliri,
who narrowly escaped.
An army spokesman did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
Jonathan replaced his chiefs of defence, army, navy and air
force last week in a widespread military shake-up. No reason was
given for the overhaul, but security experts believe there was a
need for a change of tactics in combating Boko Haram.
Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three northeastern
states in May last year and launched an intensified military
campaign to try to end the insurgency.
(Reporting by Imma Ande; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Tim
Cocks and Alister Doyle)
Reuters
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