KANO: At least five people were killed and six others injured in a night-time Boko Haram raid and suicide attack on a village in northeastern Nigeria, residents told AFP on Saturday.
A male suicide bomber detonated his explosives among a group of residents sleeping in the open in Tungushe village in Borno state at about 12:15 am (2315 GMT Friday).
The blast was followed by indiscriminate gunfire from Boko Haram militants lurking in the dark, said Mustapha Muhammad, a civilian militia leader in the area.
“Five people have been killed and six others injured in the attack,” Muhammad said by telephone from the village, which lies six kiometers (nearly four miles) north of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri.
Tungushe resident Umara Kyari, who gave a similar casualty toll, said the attackers torched eight thatched houses and three vehicles before stealing about 100 cows.
“Fortunately all the cows returned to the village,” said Kyari. “I think the attackers are not used to herding cows and could not control them.”
Boko Haram regularly uses suicide bombers, mostly women and young girls, to target mosques, schools, bus stations and military locations.
Its nine-year armed violence to establish a hard-line Islamic state in remote northeastern Nigeria has killed more than 20,000 people.
Suicide attacks have increased in Borno state recently, prompting the military commander fighting the militants to offer a five-million-naira ($13,900) reward for information on bomb-making factories in the region.
On June 16, six young girls killed 43 people in suicide attacks in the town of Damboa, 80 kilometers southwest Maiduguri.
On Wednesday, 15 people were injured when two female suicide bombers targeted a market on the edge of a military base in the city.
Nigeria’s army said troops on patrol in the Mafa area, east of Maiduguri, had come across “pockets of fleeing Boko Haram terrorists” on Friday.
“The gallant troops... overpowered the terrorists, killing even of them and recovered weapons,” it said on Twitter on Saturday.
The insurgents are believed to have carried out an attack in Zabarmari village, also in the Mafa area, on Thursday, according to a civilian militia source.
Boko Haram raid kills five in Nigeria: residents
Boko Haram raid kills five in Nigeria: residents
- A Boko Haram raid and suicide attack in Tungushe village killed at least five
- Boko Haram regularly uses suicide bombers, mostly women and young girls, to target areas with civilians
Venezuela advances amnesty bill that could lead to mass release of political prisoners
- Such an amnesty is a central demand of the country’s opposition and human rights organizations with backing from the United States
CARACAS: Venezuela’s legislature on Thursday advanced an amnesty bill proposed by acting President Delcy Rodríguez that could lead to the release of hundreds of opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons.
Such an amnesty is a central demand of the country’s opposition and human rights organizations with backing from the United States. But the contents of the bill have not been released publicly, and rights groups have so far reacted with cautious optimism — and with demands for more information.
The bill, introduced just weeks after the US military captured then-President Nicolás Maduro, still requires a second debate that has yet to be scheduled. Once approved, it must be signed by Rodríguez before it can go into effect.
In announcing the bill late last month, Rodríguez told a gathering of justices, magistrates, ministers, military brass and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled National Assembly would take up the legislation with urgency.
“May this law serve to heal the wounds left by the political confrontation fueled by violence and extremism,” she said in a pre-taped televised event. “May it serve to redirect justice in our country, and may it serve to redirect coexistence among Venezuelans.”
Rights groups, fearing some political detainees will be excluded, want more details about the requirements for amnesty before any final vote.
The Venezuelan Program for Education-Action in Human Rights, or PROVEA, issued a statement emphasizing that the bill must be made public urgently due to its potential impact on victims’ rights and broader Venezuelan society.
Based on what is known so far about the legislation, the amnesty would cover a broad timeline, spanning the administration of the late Hugo Chávez from 1999 to 2013 and that of his political heir, Maduro, until this year. It would exclude people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, and serious human rights violations, reports indicate.
