Latest news with #Timta
Russia Today
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Insurgents kill 22 people in Nigeria
At least 22 people have been killed and several others wounded in two separate attacks over the weekend in northeastern Nigeria, local authorities reported, amid renewed militant violence in the troubled region. The assaults targeted villages in Borno and Adamawa states on Saturday. In Borno's Gwoza area, suspected Islamist militants ambushed a group of civilians, killing ten of them, according to Mohammed Shehu Timta, emir of the region. He said two members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) were killed in an earlier attack on Friday. 'They went to a nearby bush in search of firewood on Saturday when the boys [insurgents] ambushed them and killed ten and left two with life-threatening injuries,' local outlets, including the Punch Newspaper, cited Timta as saying. In Adamawa State's Hong district, gunmen believed to be Boko Haram fighters raided Kopre village, where 10 people were killed and several others injured, residents said, according to Reuters. Police in Adamawa confirmed the incident, saying it also targeted local hunters and members of the CJTF. In a statement on Monday, regional police spokesperson Suleiman Yahaya Nguroje announced that more officers, including soldiers, have been deployed to 'augment the security strength in Kopre.' 'The Adamawa State Police command in sustaining collaboration with sister security agencies particularly the Military, continues to demonstrate its commitment to improve security across the border to prevent violent crimes, protect lives and property, arrest and recover illegal possession of firearms,' he stated. The assaults come amid growing warnings from officials about a resurgence of militant violence in the northeast. Earlier this month, Borno's governor reportedly acknowledged that Boko Haram fighters had resumed attacks and kidnappings. The West African nation has long grappled with insurgency, with Islamic State-affiliated organizations and Boko Haram carrying out frequent attacks. According to United Nations estimates, the conflict between jihadists and the Nigerian government has killed tens of thousands and displaced over two million people. While Nigeria's military intensifies its counterterrorism operations – including airstrikes on militant strongholds – these campaigns have at times inflicted civilian casualties. In December, the army reported that at least ten people were accidentally killed in a bombing raid targeting an armed group's base in the northwestern state of Sokoto.
News24
27-04-2025
- Politics
- News24
Jihadists kill 14 Nigerian farmers: official
Fourteen farmers were killed, and four others injured, in a raid by jihadists near Pulka, blamed on Boko Haram. Boko Haram and ISWAP increasingly target civilians like farmers, accusing them of spying, with violence spreading beyond Nigeria. Since 2009, more than 40 000 people have been killed, two million displaced, and a regional military force fights the militants. Jihadists have killed at least 14 farmers in a raid on farmlands in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state, with a local official warning that the toll may rise. The farmers were clearing their land on Saturday near Pulka town in Gwoza district in preparation for the upcoming planting season when they were attacked, said Abba Shehu Timta, the district's political administrator. Search and rescue teams, accompanied by troops, were combing nearby bushes for more bodies, he added. The town near the border with Cameroon has been repeatedly attacked by jihadists. Timta said, blaming the attack on Boko Haram, said: The terrorists killed 14 farmers who were clearing their farms and injured four others. "They launched the attack from nearby Vlei village, where they have a camp," he added. Boko Haram and its rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have increasingly targeted farmers, fishermen, loggers, herders, and metal scrap collectors in the region, accusing them of spying for the Nigerian military and the local anti-jihadist militia assisting the troops. On Friday, Borno State governor Babagana Zulum lamented "military setbacks" in efforts to defeat the jihadists, who have entrenched themselves in the Lake Chad islands, Sambisa Forest and Mandara Mountains. Boko Haram jihadists have been attacking Gwoza district and surrounding areas since 2014 when the group first seized the town and declared it part of their caliphate during their takeover of large swathes of northern Borno. The Nigerian military, with support from Chadian forces, retook the town in 2015. However, Boko Haram continues to launch attacks from the Mandara mountain range along the border with Cameroon. Military bases were established in the region to curb the jihadists' deadly raids and the kidnapping of women who venture into the bush to collect firewood and acacia fruits. Since 2009, more than 40 000 people have been killed and around two million displaced from their homes in Nigeria's northeast by the jihadist conflict. The conflict has spread into neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon, prompting the formation of a regional military force to fight the militants.
