By: Agencies
Source: http://mwcnews.net/
At least 24 people have been killed following an attack on a military base in Nigeria by Boko Haram fighters, witnesses said.
The gunmen attacked the base in the northeast Nigerian town of Buni Yadi in Yobe State, where the group massacred 59 students at a boarding school in February, witnesses told the AFP news agency on Tuesday.
Multiple witnesses said that the armed men stormed the remote town at 8:00pm (1900 GMT) on Monday, firing first on soldiers manning a checkpoint and razing the local police station.
A witness and resident of Buni Yadi, who identified himself only as Mustafa for fear of retribution, said the militants arrived in an armoured personnel carrier and six Hilux trucks before dismounting and firing into the air.
They then torched the home of local government leader and several government buildings before turning their guns on an empty primary school, said witness Kura Babagana.
“When they started attacking, people began to flee,” he said. “There were casualties on the part of the security personnel but I don’t know how many.”
Scores of vehicles were also burnt during the attack, he added, an account supported by other witnesses including Buni Ibrahim, a trader who was in the town at the time.
Boko Haram, whose violent struggle for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria has killed thousands and made them the biggest threat to security in Africa’s top oil-producing state, are still holding more than 200 girls kidnapped on April 14.
