Daily Times

Gunmen suspected to be linked to the Islamic State on Saturday killed 10 people in the latest spate of violence in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state, militia sources told AFP. The 10 victims, nine men and a woman, were scavenging for metal scrap from vehicles burnt in military operations in Goni Kurmi village, near the town of Bama, when they were attacked, two militia sources told AFP. “The 10 people were all shot,” militia leader Babakura Kolo said. “The victims were in the village to scavenge for metal scraps when they ran into the terrorists who shot them dead,” said Kolo.

The bodies of the victims were recovered by the civilian force and brought to Bama, according to Ibrahim Liman, another militiaman who gave the same toll. The Nigerian army, deployed in the region, has not yet commented on the attack. Jihadists have recently been attacking civilians collecting metal scrap, accusing them of spying on them for the military. ISWAP, which split from mainstream Boko Haram jihadist group in 2016, has become the dominant threat in northeast Nigeria. Late on Friday ISWAP militants also attacked the town of Monguno, killing three militiamen and abducting three civilians, according to security sources and aid workers.