KANO, Nigeria: Boko Haram militants killed 17 herders and stole their cattle following clashes in the troubled northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, self-defense militia said Monday.
The militants on Saturday attacked herders guarding their cattle in a pasture near Airamne village in Mafa district, the militiamen said.
“Seventeen herders were killed in the fight and all their cattle taken away,” militia leader Babakura Kolo said.
“The herders put (up) resistance but were outgunned and outnumbered by the attackers, who had better weapons,” said Kolo.
Another militiaman, Ibrahim Liman, gave the same toll.
He said the militants launched the attack from camps in nearby Gajiganna forest, where they relocated after being partially forced out from their stronghold in Sambisa forest by militant rivals ISWAP and the Nigerian army.
ISWAP — Islamic State West Africa Province — split from Boko Haram in 2016 and rose to become the dominant group in the region’s long-running militant turmoil.
It seized swathes of territory under Boko Haram control after leader Abubakar Shekau was killed in clashes with ISWAP in May last year.
Boko Haram and ISWAP have increasingly been targeting civilians, particularly loggers, farmers and herders, accusing them of spying on them for the military and the local anti-militant militia.
But herders who pay a levy to the militants are usually allowed to let their cattle graze safely in territory under militant control.
Militant violence in the northeast has killed over 40,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes since 2009, according to the United Nations.
The conflict has spilled into neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting the creation of a regional military force to fight the militants.
The killings, abductions and looting in the northeast are part of an overall security crisis in Nigeria.
Voters go to the polls on February 25 to elect a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, who is stepping down after two terms, the constitutional limit.
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Suspected militants kill 17 herders in northeast Nigeria
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Suspected militants kill 17 herders in northeast Nigeria
- Militants attack herders guarding their cattle in a pasture near Airamne village in Mafa district
- Boko Haram and ISWAP have increasingly been targeting civilians, particularly loggers, farmers and herders
Police target Ukrainians and Russian in ransomware probe
BERLIN: Police have carried out raids against two members of a ransomware group known as “Black Basta” in Ukraine, and issued an arrest warrant for its Russian head, German prosecutors said Thursday.
The group is accused of using malware to encrypt systems and then demanding money to restore them.
Between March 2022 and February 2025, its members extorted hundreds of millions of euros from around 600 companies and public institutions around the world, the prosecutors said in a statement.
The victims were mainly “companies in Western industrialized nations” but also included hospitals and other public institutions.
As part of a coordinated operation between Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ukraine and Britain, police searched the homes of two Ukrainian suspects and seized evidence, the prosecutors said.
Investigators have also identified and issued an arrest warrant for a Russian citizen accused of being the founder and head of the group, they said.
German police named the suspect as Oleg Evgenievich Nefedov, 35.
Nefedov “decided on targets, recruited employees, assigned them tasks, participated in ransom negotiations, managed the proceeds and used them to pay the members of the group,” the police said.
The searches in Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv were directed against suspected members of the group accused of so-called hash cracking, a method of guessing passwords.
Ukrainian officials also searched the home of another member of the group near Kharkiv in August, whose job was allegedly to help ensure the malware was not detected by antivirus programs.
Black Basta extorted some 20 million euros ($23 million) from around 100 companies and institutions in Germany alone, the prosecutors said.
The group is accused of using malware to encrypt systems and then demanding money to restore them.
Between March 2022 and February 2025, its members extorted hundreds of millions of euros from around 600 companies and public institutions around the world, the prosecutors said in a statement.
The victims were mainly “companies in Western industrialized nations” but also included hospitals and other public institutions.
As part of a coordinated operation between Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ukraine and Britain, police searched the homes of two Ukrainian suspects and seized evidence, the prosecutors said.
Investigators have also identified and issued an arrest warrant for a Russian citizen accused of being the founder and head of the group, they said.
German police named the suspect as Oleg Evgenievich Nefedov, 35.
Nefedov “decided on targets, recruited employees, assigned them tasks, participated in ransom negotiations, managed the proceeds and used them to pay the members of the group,” the police said.
The searches in Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv were directed against suspected members of the group accused of so-called hash cracking, a method of guessing passwords.
Ukrainian officials also searched the home of another member of the group near Kharkiv in August, whose job was allegedly to help ensure the malware was not detected by antivirus programs.
Black Basta extorted some 20 million euros ($23 million) from around 100 companies and institutions in Germany alone, the prosecutors said.
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