Boko
Haram fighters have gunned down at least 80 Muslims praying in mosques
in a northeast Nigerian town during the holy month of Ramadan, a
government official and a self-defense fighter said.
Al
Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege, reporting from Abuja on Thursday, said at least
80 people, mostly men, were killed, and that the death toll was expected
to rise.
The attack on Wednesday night on the town of
Kukawa came the day after the group attacked a village 35 km away and
killed another 48 men and boys.
The people of Kukawa
were in several mosques, praying ahead of breaking their daylong fast,
when the extremists attacked, the official said on Thursday.
Officials
in Kukawa said some fighters also broke into people's homes, killing
women and children as they prepared the evening meal.
Kukawa is 180 km northeast of Maiduguri, the biggest city in northeast Nigeria and the birthplace of Boko Haram.
Nigeria's homegrown often defiles mosques where it believes Imams espouse too moderate a form of Islam.
Wednesday's attack follows a directive from the Islamic State of Iraq
and the Levant (ISIL) group for fighters to increase attacks during
Ramadan.
Boko Haram this year became the ISIL's West African franchise.
On Tuesday night, Boko Haram invaded the village of Mussaram,
ordered men and women to separate and then opened fire on the men and
boys, witnesses said.
"A total of 48 males died on
the spot while 17 others escaped with serious injuries," said Maidugu
Bida, a self-defense official, based in nearby Monguno.
Source:ALJAZEERA NEWS
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