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| Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kill at least 97 people praying at mosques in Nigeria | Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kill at least 97 people praying at mosques in Nigeria |
| (6 months later) | |
| Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have killed almost 100 worshippers who had gathered at mosques in northeast Nigeria during the holy month of Ramadan. | Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have killed almost 100 worshippers who had gathered at mosques in northeast Nigeria during the holy month of Ramadan. |
| Worshippers were praying before breaking their fasts early on Wednesday evening, when the attackers stormed several mosques and opened fire in Kukawa, near Lake Chad. | Worshippers were praying before breaking their fasts early on Wednesday evening, when the attackers stormed several mosques and opened fire in Kukawa, near Lake Chad. |
| At least 97 people, mainly men, were fatally shot, local vigilante Abbas Gava and a senior government official who remained unnamed, told the Associated Press. | At least 97 people, mainly men, were fatally shot, local vigilante Abbas Gava and a senior government official who remained unnamed, told the Associated Press. |
| It is feared many more could be dead, as a military source told Reuters that "many people were killed" and that the casualty figure "may be very high." | It is feared many more could be dead, as a military source told Reuters that "many people were killed" and that the casualty figure "may be very high." |
| Security forces did not offer an immediate comment nor confirm a death toll when contacted by Reuters. | Security forces did not offer an immediate comment nor confirm a death toll when contacted by Reuters. |
| Boko Haram militants also broke into people’s homes and killed women and children as they prepared evening meals, Gava said quoting fighters from his group in the town. | Boko Haram militants also broke into people’s homes and killed women and children as they prepared evening meals, Gava said quoting fighters from his group in the town. |
| The violence is characteristic of Boko Haram’s attacks on mosques espousing a moderate form of Islam, and is in line with a directive from extremist group Isis for fighters to increase attacks during Ramadan. | The violence is characteristic of Boko Haram’s attacks on mosques espousing a moderate form of Islam, and is in line with a directive from extremist group Isis for fighters to increase attacks during Ramadan. |
| Earlier this year, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to Isis, which has claimed swathes of land in Syria and Iraq. | Earlier this year, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to Isis, which has claimed swathes of land in Syria and Iraq. |
| The rise of Boko Haram 19 show all The rise of Boko Haram 1/19 Boko Haram The leader of the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau delivers a message. Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the mass killings in the north-east Nigerian town of Baga in a video where he warned the massacre “was just the tip of the iceberg”. As many as 2,000 civilians were killed and 3,700 homes and business were destroyed in the 3 January 2015 attack on the town near Nigeria's border with Cameroon AFP 2/19 Boko Haram People displaced as a result of Boko Haram attacks in the northeast region of Nigeria, are seen near their tents at a faith-based camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in Yola, Adamawa State. Boko Haram says it is building an Islamic state that will revive the glory days of northern Nigeria's medieval Muslim empires, but for those in its territory life is a litany of killings, kidnappings, hunger and economic collapse 3/19 Boko Haram Nitsch Eberhard Robert, a German citizen abducted and held hostage by suspected Boko Haram militants, is seen as he arrives at the Yaounde Nsimalen International airport after his release in Yaounde, Cameroon on 21 January 2015 4/19 Boko Haram Officials of the Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) visit victims of a bomb blast in Gombe at the Specialist Hospital in Gombe. According to local reports at least six people were killed and 11 wounded after a bomb blast in a marketplace in Nigeria's northeastern state of Gombe on 16 January 2015. Islamist militant group Boko Haram has been blamed for a string of recent attacks in the North East of Nigeria 5/19 Boko Haram People gather at the site of a bomb explosion in a area know to be targeted by the militant group Boko Haram in Kano on 28 November 2014 6/19 Boko Haram People gather to look at a burnt vehicle following a bomb explosion that rocked the busiest roundabout near the crowded Market in Maiduguri, Borno State on 1 July 2014. A truck exploded in a huge fireball killing at least 15 people in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the city repeatedly hit by Boko Haram Islamists 7/19 Boko Haram President Goodluck Jonathan visits Nigerian Army soldiers fighting Boko Haram Getty Images 8/19 Boko Haram Displaced people from Baga listen to Goodluck Jonathan after the Boko Haram killings AFP/Getty 9/19 Boko Haram Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan speaking to troops during a visit to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State; most of the region has been overrun by Boko Haram AFP/Getty 10/19 Boko Haram Members of the Nigerian military patrolling in Maiduguri, North East Nigeria, close to the scene of attacks by Boko Haram EPA 11/19 Boko Haram Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, appears in a video in which he warns Cameroon it faces the same fate as Nigeria AFP 12/19 Boko Haram South Africans protest in solidarity against the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in Nigeria by the Muslim extremist group Boko Haram and what protesters said was the failure of the Nigerian government and international community to rescue them, during a march to the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg 13/19 Boko Haram Boko Haram militants have seized the town in north-eastern Nigeria that nearly 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped from in April 2014 AFP 14/19 Boko Haram A soldier stands guard in front of burnt buses after an attack in Abuja. Twin blasts at a bus station packed with morning commuters on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital killed dozens of people, in what appeared to be the latest attack by Boko Haram Islamists, April 2014 15/19 Boko Haram The aftermath of the attack, when Boko Haram fighters in trucks painted in military colours killed 51 people in Konduga in February 2014 AFP/Getty Images 16/19 Boko Haram The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau (with papers) in a video grab taken in July 2014 AFP/Getty 17/19 Boko Haram Ruins of burnt out houses in the north-eastern settlement of Baga, pictured after Boko Haram attacks in 2013 AP 18/19 Boko Haram A Boko Haram attack in Nigeria, 2013 AFP/Getty Images 19/19 Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram’s leader AP | |
| Wednesday’s attack come a day after the extremist group killed 48 men and boys during a night-time ambush in the twin villages of Mussaram I and Mussaram II around 35km away, a member of the lower house of parliament and a police source told Reuters. | Wednesday’s attack come a day after the extremist group killed 48 men and boys during a night-time ambush in the twin villages of Mussaram I and Mussaram II around 35km away, a member of the lower house of parliament and a police source told Reuters. |
| The killers ordered men and women to separate and then opened fire on the men and boys, witnesses said. | The killers ordered men and women to separate and then opened fire on the men and boys, witnesses said. |
| “A total of 48 males died on the spot while 17 others escaped with serious injuries,” said Maidugu Bida, a self-defense official based in nearby Monguno who helped bury the dead, told the Associated Press. | “A total of 48 males died on the spot while 17 others escaped with serious injuries,” said Maidugu Bida, a self-defense official based in nearby Monguno who helped bury the dead, told the Associated Press. |
| Boko Haram have lead a six-year insurgency in Nigeria's north east, killing thousands of people and forcing 1.5million people to flee their homes, as the violent group attempts to establish and Islamic caliphate. | Boko Haram have lead a six-year insurgency in Nigeria's north east, killing thousands of people and forcing 1.5million people to flee their homes, as the violent group attempts to establish and Islamic caliphate. |
| By the end of 2014, the group had claimed an area roughly the size of Belgium. However, a push by the Nigerian military in the run up to the nation's presidential election saw them lose all but three of 20 local government areas, according to officials. | By the end of 2014, the group had claimed an area roughly the size of Belgium. However, a push by the Nigerian military in the run up to the nation's presidential election saw them lose all but three of 20 local government areas, according to officials. |
| President Muhammadu Buhari, who was inaugurated on May 29, has held talks with officials from neighbouring countries Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin to set up a regional force to tackle the insurgents. | President Muhammadu Buhari, who was inaugurated on May 29, has held talks with officials from neighbouring countries Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin to set up a regional force to tackle the insurgents. |
| Additional reporting by AP and Reuters | Additional reporting by AP and Reuters |