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The attack took place late on Tuesday in Pubagu, a community in
a remote area on the fringes of Sambisa forest in Borno state,
the epicenter of Nigeria's long fight against an Islamic
insurgency. Villagers said they buried the victims on Wednesday
and attributed the attack to the extremist Boko Haram group.
The local council chairman, Mwada Saidu Uba, told The Associated
Press that the village had previously been considered a safe
haven.
“Pubagu is one of the locations in our council area that had
never suffered such an attack until yesterday,” he said after
the funerals. The two injured were receiving treatment at a
nearby hospital, he added.
Usman Rumirgo, a local ward official, said the assailants set
several houses ablaze before leaving the area.
Vulnerable rural communities regularly come under fire from
Islamic extremists and bandits who take advantage of Nigeria’s
vast rural areas and security gaps.
Among the most prominent Islamic militant groups active in
Nigeria are Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, affiliated
with the Islamic State group and is known as Islamic State West
Africa Province, or ISWAP. There is also the IS-linked Lakurawa,
as well as other “bandit” groups that specialize in kidnapping
for ransom and illegal mining.
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