Deadly extremist attacks kill dozens in north-eastern Nigeria

Islamic State-aligned militants have killed at least 25 people, including soldiers, in an overnight attack on Thursday in Nigeria’s north-east Borno State, local sources said.

The assault by suspected Boko Haram militants is the deadliest reported attack since United States President Donald Trump ordered air strikes on Christmas Day.

Since 2009, the remote state has been the epicentre of an Islamist insurgency by the group and its Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) offshoot rival.

Most of the victims of Thursday’s attack were labourers who had travelled to the town of Sabon Gari to work at a construction site, when gunmen swept in and opened fire.

Officials said the extremist fighters, backed by armed drones, had raided an army base in a separate attack in the same town hours earlier.

At least nine soldiers and two members of a civilian task force assisting them were killed in the pre-dawn assault. Sixteen people were wounded.

Abdurrahman Buni, a senior officer of the Civilian Joint Task Force, said it was unclear if the base attack was carried out by Boko Haram or ISWAP.

Nigeria is in the grip of a complex security crisis.

There is an insurgency by Islamic militants in the north-east, alongside a surge in kidnappings for ransom by gunmen across the north-west and north-central regions.

In December, the US launched airstrikes in northern Nigeria, targeting Islamic State fighters, claiming the West African country failed to rein in attacks on Christians.

The United Nation’s top humanitarian official in the country earlier this month said the current crisis extends far beyond any single community or conflict.

Nigeria’s government does not deny the deadly violence but officials say it is not aimed at a particular community.

Groups monitoring the situation say the number of Christians who have been killed is far lower, adding that most victims of the jihadist groups are Muslims.