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Boko Haram kills dozens in Nigerian village

November 21, 2014

Boko Haram militants are reported to have killed dozens of people in the northeastern Nigerian village of Azaya Kura. The attack comes as the Nigerian government let emergency powers designed to combat the group expire.

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Boko Haram Kämpfer
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo

At least 45 people have been killed in northeastern Nigeria in an apparent attack carried out by the Boko Haram militant group, local officials said.

The attack occurred in the village of Azaya Kura in northeastern Nigeria's Borno state. According to local vigilante leader Muhammed Gava, heavily armed Boko Haram militants swept through the village in several trucks, destroying homes and making off with food and livestock.

The caretaker charman of the Mafa local government area Shettima Lawan called the attack, "wicked and despicable" and said she is "still searching for motives behind the mass killing and destruction."

The Nigerian government has been waging a 5-year war against the Boko Haram group, which seeks to create an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria. Last week, Boko Haram militants briefly captured the town of Chibok, where more than 200 girls were kidnapped earlier this year.

Nigerian security forces retook Chibok this past Saturday, but once-promising negotiations for the release of the kidnapped girls have fallen apart, along with hopes for a ceasefire deal with the militant group.

The attack comes as the Nigerian government voted Wednesday not to extend a state of emergency in northeastern Nigeria aimed at combating the Islamists that had been in effect since 2013. The country's main opposition party described the state of emergency as a complete failure in the fight against the militants.

Nigeria Boko Haram Bring back our Girls
Negotiations for a ceasefire with the Boko Haram group, as well as the release of more than 200 kidnapped girls recently fell apartImage: picture alliance/AP Photo/Gbemiga

Boko Haram's insurgency has been characterized by a brutal campaign of bombings and shootings targeting Christian churches, Muslim mosques, schools, markets, bars, villages, police stations and even a UN building. An estimated 5,000 Nigerians have been killed and a further 300,000 displaced by the violence.

Amnesty International has accused the Nigerian military of war crimes, including extrajudicial killings, in its fight against Boko Haram. The United Nations and Human Rights Watch have also alleged that Nigeria's security forces have committed human rights abuses.

Nigeria's population of 177 million people is 50 percent Muslim and 40 percent Christian. Muslims are concentrated in the north and Christians in the south. The remaining 10 percent of the population practices indigenous beliefs.

bw/jm (AFP, AP)