Suspected Boko Haram terrorists riding motorbikes have stormed two villages in northeast Nigeria, killing at least 20 people, a local official said on Wednesday.
The assaults are part of a surge by Boko Haram and its splinter faction, ISWAP, who have stepped up deadly attacks on military bases and villages in Nigeria's insurgency-hit northeast.
The gunmen raided the villages of Pubagu and Mayo-Ladde in the states of Borno and neighbouring Adamawa, respectively, on Tuesday afternoon after overwhelming local vigilantes, said Mada Saidu, chairman of Askira-Uba district, where one of the attacks occurred.
At least 11 people were killed in Pubagu and nine in Mayo-Ladde. Homes and shops were torched and food supplies looted, Saidu said.
Boko Haram, a terror group that emerged in northeastern Nigeria in 2009, has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions across Nigeria and neighbouring countries, despite major military campaigns to root them out.
The group has since split, with one faction aligning with Daesh to form Daesh’s West Africa Province (ISWAP), which has increasingly targeted military bases in recent years.
Despite repeated military offensives, Boko Haram and its splinter groups have continued to mount large‑scale attacks, exploiting difficult terrain, porous regional borders and a limited state presence in parts of the arid northeast.
