Boko Haram Burn Homes With Families Inside, Killing Dozens

An attack by Boko Haram left scores of people dead in Nigeria on Saturday.

The death toll has been estimated to be somewhere between 65 and 85 people, according to reports from Reuters and The Associated Press, with that number expected to rise.

According to Reuters, members of Boko Haram opened fire on residents, set fire to houses, and targeted a crowd with suicide bombers in Dalori on Saturday night. One survivor told The AP that they could hear children screaming in agony as they were burned to death. The shooting and burning went on for nearly four hours.

Colonel Mustapha Ankas, a Nigerian military spokesman, told Reuters that Boko Haram militants attacked the community of Dalori, about three miles east of Maiduguri in the state of Borno. Ankas said that insurgents arrived in two cars and on motorcycles. The group then opened fire on residents and burned down their houses.

"While people were running for their dear lives…three female suicide bombers attempted to make their way into the crowd…and subsequently got blown up," Ankas told Reuters.

Troops arrived around 8:40 p.m. local time, according to The Associated Press, but they were unable to fend off Boko Haram. The extremists only retreated when more troops arrived with heavier firepower.

Boko Haram has been attacking several targets in Nigeria over the last week. A suicide bomber believed to be a Boko Haram militant killed about 10 people on Friday in nearby Adamawa state, according to Reuters. Another 12 people were killed on Wednesday in an attack on Chibok, a village where ththe abduction of 200 schoolgirls took place in 2014

Last Monday, Boko Haram was also suspected in a suicide bombing at a market in Cameroon that left more than 25 people dead, reports CNN.

 

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