2000 Killed As Boko Haram Destroys At least 16 Towns, Villages In Borno

A local official in north-east Nigeria has told the BBC he fears up to 2,000 people may have died in Boko Haram attack on the town of Baga.

— BBC Africa (@BBCAfrica) January 8, 2015

Boko Haram launched renewed attacks around a captured town in Borno this week, razing at least 16 towns and villages, a local government and a union official told Agency France-Presse.

“They burnt to the ground all the 16 towns and villages including Baga, Dorn-Baga, Mile 4, Mile 3, Kauyen Kuros and Bunduram,” said Musa Bukar, head of the Kukawa local government in Borno state.

Abubakar Gamandi, head of Borno’s fish traders union and a Baga native, confirmed the attacks, which happened Wednesday, adding that hundreds of people who fled were trapped on islands on Lake Chad.