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Boko Haram raid kills eight civilians in northeast Nigeria

Iran Press TV

Thu Jul 23, 2015 5:53PM

Suspected Boko Haram Takfiri militants have gunned down at least eight people during a raid on a village in the troubled northeast Nigeria, local residents say.

A local resident said Thursday that the heavily-armed militants attacked the village of Pompomari in the northeastern Borno State on Wednesday.

'The gunmen we believe to be from Boko Haram came into our village around 9 pm yesterday (Wednesday) and shot dead eight people,' AFP quoted Umar Goni, a resident of the village of Pompomari, as saying.

The death toll has been confirmed by a member of a vigilante group which assists the military in fighting the militant group.

Also on Wednesday, local Nigerian security officials said at least 40 people were feared dead in multiple bomb explosions in the northeastern Gombe State.

Meanwhile, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari strongly censured the United States for refusing to provide his soldiers with weapons in their fight against Boko Haram militants.

Buhari said Washington "aided and abetted" the militants in his country by refusing to arm Nigerian forces over alleged human rights concerns.

'Regrettably, the blanket application of the Leahy Law by the United States on the grounds of unproven allegations of human rights violations leveled against our forces has denied us access to appropriate strategic weapons to prosecute the war,' Buhari told the United States Institute of Peace on Wednesday.

The Nigerian leader was referring to an 18-year-old law, which prohibits the US Departments of State and Defense from providing military assistance to foreign military units on allegations of human rights violations.

President Buhari has vowed to tackle Boko Haram militancy which is currently plaguing the West African nation.

Boko Haram has intensified its attacks since Buhari came to power on May 29. The Nigerian leader has since made the crackdown on militants his top priority.

Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shooting attacks and bombings in Nigeria since the beginning of their militancy in 2009, which has so far claimed the lives of at least 15,000 people and made more than 1.5 million displaced.

The violence has spilled over into Nigeria's neighboring countries.

Four nations of the Lake Chad Basin - Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria - have launched a campaign, together with a contingent from Benin, to confront the threat from Boko Haram militants in the region.